Scowler
Kraus, D. (2013).
Scowler. New York: Delacorte.
Scowler tells the
sad and frightening story of the Burke family and their struggle with the
monster that has escaped prison and returned home. Ry, his sister Sarah and his
mom are finally leaving their dying farm and moving to the city. As they are
waiting for parts for the car, a stranger wanders in from the field. They
slowly realize he is an escaped convict and that he knows Marvin Burke, from
prison. The fear starts to escalate with the family when they realize Marvin
may have escaped. When Marvin appears, this sends Ry into a tailspin. He has
repressed all of his fear over the past ten years, but now with Marvin back, Ry
is in a panic and is searching for help from his three old toys: Mr. Furrington,
Jesus Christ, and Scowler. A meteorite has fallen and Marvin thinks this is the
answer to all of his problems. As the family tries to escape, Ry pulls from two
different personalities trying to help his family, trying to deny help from the
third because he doesn’t want to become like Scowler.
Scowler is a horror novel that is set in 1981 and told from
the point of view of nineteen- year old Ry. He is struggling to find himself
now that he is out of high school. The novel is broken down by using a
timeline: hours before the meteor lands and hours after it lands. The past
trauma to the family is told with flashbacks to 10 years before when Martin is
terrorizing his wife and family. Ry is forced to come to his mom’s aid, witnessing
something that will forever haunt him and spending the night being hunted in
the woods by his father. This novel is not for the faint of heart. It looks
true evil eye and witnesses what it does to each member of the family. It deals
with sadistic abuse, mental cruelty and murder.
Interesting links:
Awards:
Odyssey Award (2014)
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