The Loch Ness Monster (Cryptid Files) - Softcover

Flitcroft, Jean

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1467734810 ISBN 13: 9781467734813

Publisher: Darby Creek Publishing, 2013

Synopsis

A huge, glowing object moved slowly toward her. As it approached, the glow grew more intense and the water warmer. Vanessa stopped swimming, waiting for the inevitable...

Vanessa's dreams are haunted by cryptids--mysterious creatures that may or may not exist. Her mother used to study them, gathering scientific evidence that at least some of them are real. Vanessa longs to continue her mother's research. At the moment, though, she also has more pressing concerns--like a family trip that includes her father's new girlfriend.

But the visit to Scotland gives Vanessa a chance to explore the eerie secrets of Loch Ness. With the help of her mother's cryptid files, can she solve the mystery of the most famous cryptid of all?

-- "Journal"

About this title

Review

"First published in Ireland, The Cryptid Files is a fantasy series about teenaged Vanessa and her involvement with creatures that most people do not believe exist. Vanessa's mother was a cryptozoologist, and now Vanessa continues her deceased mother's studies on beasts like Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster. But Vanessa's connection to these creatures is not just academic. In the first book, for example, during a family trip to Scotland, Vanessa's boat overturns, and she sinks into the loch. Instead of meeting a tragic demise, however, she awakens in an underground cave where a voice in her head encourages her to eat iridescent green algae for energy to explore the waters. Vanessa finds herself being told the truth about the Loch Ness monster by Nessie herself, a rare insight indeed, before heading safely back to dry land. Similarly, in the second book, Vanessa heads to Mexico with her friend Nikki and soon finds herself enmeshed in a series of confusing events that invoke conversations about everything from witches to banshees to vampires to the devil. Eventually, Vanessa realizes that the brutal murders of people and animals around her friend's ranch are the work of shape-shifting naguals who can turn themselves into Chupacabras.

Each chapter begins with information about the mythological beasts of the story; The Chupacabra

, for example, includes a reference section for further study of Mexican myths and legends. Vanessa's story is one of two worlds--the real world and the world of folktale and mythology--across which she must manage bravely but, for the most part, secretly. Though there are those that share her knowledge, Vanessa is alone to interpret her vivid and prophetic dreams, investigations, and supernatural experiences." --VOYA

--Journal

Edition details

• Publisher: Darby Creek Publishing
• Publication date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1467734810
• ISBN 13: 9781467734813
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 186