The Glow

A quiet girl, frequently lost in her own imagination, Megan is often overlooked by her family and others around her—that’s what makes her bond with her best friend Li all the more special. Megan, a wonderful artist, loves to invent strange and powerful creatures, often with scales and talons and teeth and claws, while Li, being a writer, adores inventing stories about Megan’s creatures. Together the pair spend hours creating stories and worlds for each of Megan’s creations.

When Megan returns home from school one day to find her whole family in a strange, trance-like state, she worries that something is wrong. Later, drawing in her secret cupboard, Megan is shocked and a little afraid when she finds herself, almost against her will, sketching a strange creature emerging from a dark mass. With her family still unresponsive, and all the screens in the house emitting a strange, flat, bright glow, Megan is growing more and more concerned.

Things only get stranger when Megan and Li discover the rest of the town has also succumbed to the strange glow that is becoming ever more present around them. Afraid, yet determined to work out what is going on, Megan and Li set out for a nearby larger town. As they travel, Megan feels herself continually urged to draw the strange creature from earlier, as it slowly emerges from its dark mass. Li, likewise, is drawn to write what seems to be the creature’s story.

The pair find themselves at the treacherous beachside cliffs, where they discover the source of the strange occurrences: an awful, otherworldly creature they can only refer to as The Glow. The Glow, which is emanating that awful flat light the girls have been watching grow ever brighter, seems to be gaining strength. Although all seems hopeless, Megan soon discovers that their one hope is the strength of her and Li’s imaginations—the very thing that seems to have brought The Glow to their town in the first place. The girls are able to summon up all of Megan’s creatures, and they manage to beat The Glow back, saving the town—and the world—from certain destruction, as the awful creature returns home to bide its time.

An interesting sci-fi thriller for middle grade readers, this story is a strong metaphor for the power and influence that devices and technology have over us in our modern lives, with The Glow being a stand-in for technology. With additional messages about the power of imagination, creativity, and storytelling, this is an engaging read, perfect for fans of sci-fi and monsters or creatures.

metaphor, sci-fi, supernatural, imagination, drawing, writing, stories, thriller, friendship, not fitting in, monsters

1. The main antagonist of the story is The Glow, which is eventually revealed to be an enormous monster and is defeated by Megan’s creatures. At the beginning of the story, Megan seems to be somewhat taken over by The Glow as it forces her to draw it, not of her volition—this is never really explained, but can be assumed to be part of how The Glow was summoned to their area. Megan refers to her wide assortment of fantasy creatures throughout the story, all of which are eventually conjured from her and Li’s imaginations to fight The Glow in a big final battle sequence, and are described as scary/creepy by Megan’s family. The book contains a number of illustrations of Megan’s creatures in illustrator Marc McBride’s typical style—very similar to the dragons from Deltora Quest.