The Frankenstein of the Apple Crate: A Possibly True Story of the Monster's Origins

by Julia Douthwaite Viglione, Karen Neis (Illustrator)

Overview

The Frankenstein of the Apple Crate builds on a true archival discovery to imagine how the young Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin found the idea of Frankenstein. Since her mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, died shortly after she was born, the heroine grows up in a house haunted by loss. She and her father try to keep the mother’s memory alive by talking about her famous exploits and revolutionary ideas, but as time passes Mary’s fears overwhelm her. During one terrible night, she finds a wonderful book in her mom’s papers and dreams of entering the fantasy. Set in faraway Syracuse, it tells of a kindly inventor named Frankénsteïn whose music-making robot sweeps people off their feet with melancholy melodies. Years later, that story comes back to mind during a story-telling competition. With the help of a ghost called Mother, Mary retells Frankénsteïn’s story in a gothic vein, making the sweet machine into a murderous thug… and a legend is born.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780998443294
Publisher:	Julia Douthwaite Viglione
Publication date:	11/15/2018
Series:	Honey Girl Books , #1
Edition description:	2nd Printing, 1st Hardback ed.
Pages:	36
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.25(d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Julia Douthwaite Viglione, mother of two, was a professor of French at the University of Notre Dame from 1991-2018. Although a prize-winning author and college teacher, she left academia and returned to her hometown West Seattle in 2018, where she now lives with her husband and a dog named Honey Girl. She is the author of several scholarly books, most recently "The Frankenstein of 1790 and other Lost Chapters from Revolutionary France" (Univ. of Chicago Press, 2012). While doing the research for that book, she discovered a political pamphlet that tells a story resembling Mary Shelley's masterpiece in many ways, and which was published 28 years earlier, in 1790. Could Shelley's mother, the famous revolutionary Mary Wollstonecraft, have left it behind? Ms. Douthwaite Viglione wrote this book to show young readers how ideas evolve over time and to share the excitement of original research with a broader audience. She has been teaching children to write stories and make altered books since 2012, in a free semester-long workshop called "Write YOUR Story." Working with children is a labor of love; it provides creative energy and happiness for her ongoing work as an artist and designer of textile art via Honey Girl Books and Gifts: https://www.honeygirlbooks.com/

Karen Neis majored in Medieval Studies at the University of Notre Dame with a minor in Studio Art. She is currently a retail associate at Blick Art Materials and an illustrator of children's books. Her portfolio: http://karenneis.portfoliobox.net/

Table of Contents

1. The Frankenstein of the Apple Crate: A Possibly True Story of the Monster's Origins, by Julia Douthwaite Viglione, illustrated by Karen Neis, 30 pages

2. Historical and Biographical Note: "The Truth behind The Frankenstein of the Apple Crate," by Julia Douthwaite Viglione, 1 page

3. Historical and Biographical Note: "About Mary Shelley," by Greg Kucich, 1 page

4. Historical and Biographical Note: "About Frankenstein," by Eileen Hunt Botting, 1 page

Editorial Reviews

“The story is fascinating, and the illustrations capture the haunting mood so well.”

-- Liz, Mishawaka, IN

"The kids loved the book!"

--Kathleen, Seattle, WA

From the Publisher