Man Made Monsters - by Andrea Rogers (Hardcover)

About the Book

Haunting illustrations are woven throughout these horror stories that follow one extended Cherokee family across the centuries and well into the future as they encounter predators of all kinds in each time period.

Book Synopsis

18 illustrated horror stories follow one Cherokee family through the atrocities -- supernatural and manmade -- each generation encounters -- ALSO AVAILABLE IN PAPERBACK!

Imagine a chilling horror collection that weaves classic monsters like werewolves and vampires with the true horrors of colonialism, domestic violence, and displacement. Andrea Rogers delivers.

Follow a Cherokee family across centuries, from their ancestral lands in 1830s Georgia to the battlefields of World War I and Vietnam, and beyond. Each story offers a chilling glimpse into a different era, revealing how history's monsters intertwine with the supernatural.

Man Made Monsters is a powerful exploration of identity and the enduring legacy of colonization. Rogers masterfully blends Cherokee legends with chilling horror, creating unforgettable characters and monsters.

Each story is accompanied by haunting illustrations from Cherokee artist Jeff Edwards, incorporating the Cherokee syllabary for a truly immersive experience.

Don't miss out on this masterpiece! Man Made Monsters will stay with you long after the last page.

P R A I S E

★ "These stories sound as if they were passed down as family histories. It may read like speculative fiction, but it feels like the truth." --Horn Book (starred)

★ "Stunning...follows a Cherokee family through two centuries, beginning with something akin to a vampire attack and ending with zombies." --BCCB (starred)

★ "Spine-tingling...A simultaneously frightening and enthralling read." --Publishers Weekly (starred)

★ "Chilling... Exquisite... A creepy and artful exploration of a haunting heritage." --Kirkus (starred)

★ "Startling...Will leave readers--adults as well as teens--unsettled, feeling like they have caught a glimpse into a larger world." --Booklist (starred)

W I N N E R

Walter Dean Myers Award

American Indian Library Association Youth Literature Honor

International Literacy Association Award

Whippoorwill Award

Reading The West Book Awards Shortlist

NEA Read Across America Recommended Title

B E S T - O F - T H E - Y E A R

Washington Post - Booklist - Publishers Weekly - Horn Book - New York Public Library

Review Quotes

Best of the Year, Bank Street College

"Sometimes the only way to grapple with a monstrous past is through horror. Andrea L. Rogers offers up more than a dozen linked stories, tracing an extended Cherokee family from the Trail of Tears to the present. Along the way, we meet a German vampire hiding his bloodlust along a violent frontier, a mixed-race student of science trying to bring a young boy back to life, and werewolves, ghosts, zombies and the Deer Woman. The book's rich illustrations incorporate the Cherokee syllabary, hinting at the layers of history beneath each tale." -- Minneapolis Star Tribune

"Dazzling, diverse, often terrifying."--Buffalo News

[STAR] "Many of these stories sound as if they were passed down as family histories. It may read like speculative fiction, but it feels like truth."-- Horn Book (starred)

"Man Made Monsters is a brilliant and expansive journey across time, seen through a Cherokee lens, written by the brilliant and essential voice of Andrea Rogers. This collection is full to the brim with voice and breadth, including but not limited to magic, horror, and fantasy. The book is fun, funny, and dead-serious. It is beautifully written, and it is full of monsters."

--Tommy Orange

"Rogers's story collection follows one extended Cherokee family across centuries. Each story elicits chills in different ways, while also feeling incredibly grounded and intoxicating. From vampires to the Vietnam War; they vary in genre and style while Cherokee artist Jeff Edwards illustrates each story. A haunting and stunning book for you to enjoy." -- Buzzfeed

"Teen and adult readers looking for a taste of the gorgeously gruesome should snap up this dark, engrossing jewel."-- Shelf-Awareness

[STAR] "Spine-tingling...artfully tackles themes of colonialism and its effects on entire generations, for a simultaneously frightening and enthralling read."--Publishers Weekly (starred)

[STAR] "Startling...Will leave readers--adults as well as teens--unsettled, feeling like they have caught a glimpse into a larger world, and like there is a wider one still, just out of sight."--Booklist (starred)

[STAR] "This stunning collection of short stories follows a Cherokee family through two centuries, beginning with something akin to a vampire attack and ending with zombies... Rogers has a rich authorial toolbox as she effortlessly swaps between narrator points of view, story length, and writing styles to best tell each story in a way befitting of its protagonist and rooted in a specific time and place... Generational trauma is present here, but this is not a collection of tragedy and victims, and there is room for revenge, for defiance, and for resilience even among literal and metaphorical monsters closing in all around this sprawling family."-- Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (starred)

[STAR]"A chilling story collection following a sprawling Cherokee family through many generations... Rogers' grounded, smooth writing style--juggling first-, third-, and even second-person points of view-- makes magical elements (from milder hauntings to monsters like vampires, werewolves, and zombies) as threatening as human villains. The stakes remain high: The short story format means any character one meets could later die. Exquisite white-on-black line art from Cherokee artist Edwards sets the eerie mood. The use of the Noto Sans Cherokee typeface and Edwards' hand-drawn Cherokee syllabary beautifully integrates written language into the book's design. A creepy and artful exploration of a haunting heritage."

--Kirkus (starred)

About the Author

Andrea L. Rogers is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation. She grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma and graduated with an MFA from the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe. Her picture book, Chooch Helped, was awarded the Caldecott Medal. Andrea's collection of horror stories, Man Made Monsters, received six starred reviews and won the Walter Dean Myers Award for Young Adult fiction. She is also the author of the YA novel The Art Thieves.

Author residence: Fayetteville, AR

Jeff Edwards, of Vian, OK, is an award-winning Cherokee graphic artist who has worked for the Cherokee Nation for over 20 years. He is a language activist and has worked on numerous projects that have projected the Cherokee language into the global spotlight. He attended Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, KS and received his Associates Degree in Liberal Arts and completed his Bachelor of Arts in Graphic Design at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah. His artwork is almost exclusively Cherokee themed, and he prefers using the Cherokee Syllabary opposed to English to promote the Cherokee language and likes using old cultural concepts but expressing them with modern electronic tools.