Genre:
Contemporary Realism
Summary:
Eighteen-year-old Eliza Mirk is an outsider and loner who does not fit in with her high school or intensely active family. She suffers from anxiety and all her meaningful relationships are online. Online Eliza is LadyConstellation, the anonymous creator of a wildly popular online comic series called Monstrous Sea. Online she has millions of followers and fans. Eliza’s online persona is popular, but she is smart, shy, strange, and friendless in the real world. Then a new boy in school, Wallace Warland, changes everything for Eliza. She begins to think life offline might be worthwhile. But when Eliza’s anonymous online persona is accidentally shared with the world, everything begins to crumble. Once her secret is out in the world, everything Eliza has built, her comic story, her relationship with Wallace, and her sanity begins to fall apart.
Thoughts:
This is a beautifully written and engaging coming of age themed book that focuses on the transition of a young female protagonist who is creative, not popular, and is driven by creativity. This “left of center” character develops and comes into her own through a series of conflicts and changes that she must address and embrace to become her own person. This book is great for anyone who has ever felt shy, awkward, or online fandom young adults see themselves represented and accepted. It also aids in the discussion of teens that deal with social anxiety, depression and the acceptance of therapy.
Zappia, F. (2017). Eliza and Her Monsters. New York: Greenwillow Books.
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