How To Grow Your Geek: Parenting and More!

Hey guys,
Got something different for you this time around, not a normal book by any means. And not one I would usually pick up either, but I saw this at my uncle’s Hobby shop and comic book store and had to get it. Just for the title alone.

It ate Billy on Christmas – A book review by Darcy Low

“It would have been a Christmas like any other for little Lumi and her horrible,terrible, obnoxious, awful bully of a brother Billy. But then a funny little monster appears and ate Billy right up! Lumi knows it’s not really a good thing to let a monster eat your brother, but she can’t help but notice that things are, in fact; much nice now that he is gone. Now that things are looking up a little in her world. Lumi has to decide what to do with her new little monster friend, and……most importantly; what’s she going to feed him? ”

Okay first let me state two things. First I don’t like horror stuff, I won’t watch scary movies, I won’t read vampire or werewolves teen books, and although I read Twilight; I found it boring and totally unbelievable. (Sparkly Vampires.) But I do like a good scary story, like a ghost story, or Edgar Allen Poe, stuff like that. I’ll even watch the old black and white Frankenstein and stuff. Just nothing newer.

Second, keep in mind; this is a children’s picture book.

Lumi is a very shy, very picked on young girl. Her older brother Billy takes great delight in causing her grief. Breaking what little toys she has, punching her, sending her pet gerbil into orbit using a home built rocket, etc. Her parents are clueless to what is going on, or to the world around them. They mostly work, come home, and read the paper. Ignoring the kids. Every year at Christmas time, Billy get everything he asks for, including a matching pair of dart guns that he quickly fixes with needles inside the darts in order to torment Lumi with. (despite Lumi begging and pleading with her parents NOT to buy them.)
All Lumi ever wanted and asked for was a puppy of her own, but with the whole gerbil thing; her mom and dad thought it was best not to give Billy anything else to shoot off into space. So she decides to ask for stuff animals instead. But in the end, her mom always winds up giving her ceramic monkeys holding turtles. (Yeah, I didn’t get that either.)

School isn’t much better. Because she is shy and different, the other kids tend to ignore her, and she struggles with all of her classes. (Boy, i can relate to that.) Here too she is bullied by the the kids on the football team who call her names and like to pick on all the smaller kids.She does not have a fun life at all.

The monster himself is hard to describe really, looks pretty scary. Kind of a cross between a rat and one of those little Mexican type dogs. (Which look like rats anyway.) When the book first starts out, he is described as a ancient being who lives in the bottom of a well. he used to feed on anyone or anything that was unlucky enough to have fallen in. But that was ages ago and now it is Christmas eve, and he smells all the food Lumi’s mom has prepared for the big day tomorrow. After breaking in Santa style and eating up all of the food, he decides to take a nap under the Christmas tree. Where the kids find him Christmas morning. And you know what happened next.

Now that the monster’s tummy is full, Lumi must hide him from everyone and make things look normal again. She comes up with a good idea that fools her parents. But she has other problems to deal with. Sooner or later the little monster is going to wake up, and he is sure to be hungry again.

Did I mention this was a kid’s book?

Don’t get me wrong, this wasn’t a bad little book. It was pretty good actually and very creepy. The end is a twist and something you are like to see on a old Twilight Zone. I sure didn’t see it coming, I can tell you. But a kid’s book? I am going to recommend this to kids ages 11 and up, I think anyone younger will be freaked out by this and maybe have nightmares. It was a good book if you lake a scary story with a twist ending. (might even call it twisted.) This is a children’s ghost story if told by Tim Burton, it has that Nightmare before Christmas feel to it.

The book is put out by Dark Horse books and is written by Roman Dirge, who has won four Eisner awards and is illustrated by Steven Daily.

So there you are, a scary little book just in time for Halloween.

You know what? This review just reminded me, I never did show you my new teddy bear have i? Just a sec, it’s right here in my backpack. Yep…..here we are. What’s that? Well, I know he’s not much to look at, and kinda odd looking…..that noise? oh just his stomach growling, sounds like he is hungry……. Hey! Where are you going???

Hehehe,

Darcy

Sorry almost for got this:

http://www.amazon.com/Ate-Billy-Christmas-Roman-Dirge/dp/1593078536