Little Apocalypse

Sparrow, Katherine. Little Apocalypse
March 12th 2019 by HarperCollins
E ARC from Edelweiss Plus

Celia's parents have lost their university jobs and moved the family to a small island on the East Coast where they both found positions. One weekend, Celia's father has to travel for work and her mother has to go to care for her grandmother, so they trust her alone (with a seven page list of rules!). The next morning, she wakes up to the aftermath of a serious earthquake, and runs into a group of children acting suspiciously on the roof of the building. One of them is a boy she has seen before, and who has intrigued her. He shows up in his apartment trying to hide, and introduces himself as Demetri. He seems nice, but when Celia trips on something and his hand grazes her as she falls, it leaves an odd, itchy mark on her skin. Ignoring her parents' rules, Celia ventures out to the library and finds a flyer for a meeting. There, she meets children known as Hunters, who tell her that the earthquake was caused by monsters, and that Celia is the girl of whom they have heard in a prophecy. She is supposed to save the world. The Hunters seem to be at odds with Demetri and his friends, and Celia soon finds out why. Demetri is good, but things are strange and dangerous. Is Celia really going to save the world? And who will save it with her?
Strengths: Bonus points for not killing off the parents, but for sending them away for the weekend. Much more believable! I did like the beginning, with the earthquake and all the power out. There is very strong world building, but I don't want to describe too much about the monsters, because that would lead to some spoilers. There are not a lot of books about monsters (Lorey's Nightmare Academy, Kloepfer's Monsters Unleashed, Coville's Monsters of Morley Manor, Kent's Scary School, Oh's Spirit Hunters, Lubar's Monsterrific Tales, Hale's Monstertown, and Gilman's Tales from Lovecraft Middle School), and most are a little more elementary in their focus and level of goofiness. This is definitely more middle grade, and Celia's struggles with finding friends and with the idea of good and evil add a subtle layer of maturity to this fantasy survival tale.
Weaknesses: The back and forth about the monsters being good or evil, and all the details about them, confused me a little, so this may be difficult for some young readers.
What I really think: I was all set for a futuristic dystopian book like The Rule of Three, Zap, or The Big Dark, so when the monsters turned up, I was a little disappointed. The cover is not good, so I am debating whether I will purchase this one. Monster books see little circulation in my library.