Book Descriptions
for Beast by Ally Kennen
From The United States Board on Books for Young People (USBBY)
Seventeen-year-old Stephen has kept the “Beast” alive, despite the Eng lish weather, in a wire cage at the reservoir near his foster home with the Reynolds family. But “his boy” is now unmanageable. When he enlists the help of his deadbeat father, the killer crocodile escapes. Through Stephen’s first-person narrative, a gripping story is told of how recapturing his former pet nearly costs him his life. Stephen also tells about his family relationships: the family that let Stephen down; his love for his dead brother; and his new relationship with sixteen-year-old teenager Carol Reynolds, who, surpris ingly, becomes his ally. 2007 Carnegie Medal Shortlist, 2007 Branford Boase Award Shortlist. hc
Originally published by Scholastic Great Britain, in 2006.
From the Publisher
Stephen hasn't had it easy. He's now in foster care because his mom is crazy and his dad is an ex-con. He's always in trouble or on his way to trouble. But none of these problems compare to the problem of The Beast.
Stephen has been taking care of The Beast for years. It is his biggest secret -- and also his biggest challenge. If it could, The Beast would eat Stephen alive. The only thing separating them is a rusty cage. And the bars are about to break. . . .