November Audio Book of the Month Giveaway from Books on Tape/Listening Library: Man Made Boy by Jon Skovron

This month we are kicking off a new monthly giveaway brought to you by Random House Books on Tape and Listening Library.  Each month you will have the chance to enter and win a new MG or YA audio book – because audio books are cool. 

Here are 5 times it is great to listen to an audio book:
1. When driving in the car.
2. When you are cleaning your room (or your house, or your car).
3. While exercising.
4. When cooking.  I mean, I hear some people do that.  Cook that is.
5. When you have a struggling reader, have them listen to the book and read along.

This month’s selection is MAN MADE BOY by Jon Skovron, read by the author.

Boy is the son Frankenstein and his Bride, but he is also just like any teenage boy – into technology, in love with a girl who may or may not love him back, and bullied by a centaur for being different.  Wait, perhaps that last part isn’t just like every other teen.  Because the world is not friendly to monsters, his family hides with other magical and mythical creatures like him by taking part in a Broadway show.  The audience doesn’t know that the acts they are seeing are real.  Boy is an expert hacker, and when he creates a sentient virus, who names herself VI, he finds himself on the run with the daughter of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde – two girls in one body.  She’s on the run from her maniacal brother, who thinks he can get rid of the Hyde half of his sister, who doesn’t really want to go.  Along the way they meet a variety of magical and mythical creatures – and a ton of hijacked humans that VI is downloading herself into via cell phone technology to try and reach out to her creator.  It’s a road trip like no other.

This was a very interesting story that combined stories of old with a modern day world.  There are undertones and themes of modern day that teens will relate to: bullying, identity, falling in and out of love, rebelling against parents, technology, and even the ethics of science in some great discussions of creator responsibilities.  It was so fun to see which character would show up next and how they would be given a modern day twist.  It’s a combination of Hotel Transylvania updated for teens with great techno twists (and mature teen language).  The author did a really good job of giving each character a distinct voice. 

So here’s how you can enter to win:

1.  The contest will run each month, the first day of the month until the last.

2. You can enter via the Rafflecopter in multiple ways.  One way includes leaving a blog comment so tell us: 1) What’s your favorite time, place or way to listen to audio books? and/or 2) What monster would you like to see pop up in Man Made Boy?

3.  The contest is open to residents of the U.S. 

4.  Rafflecopter will pick a winner, I will email that winner to get their address, and Random House Books on Tape/Listening Library will email the winner’s audio book out to them.

Filed under: Audio Book of the Month Giveaway, Audio Books, Books on Tape, Jon Skovron, Listening Library, Man Made Boy, Random House