Great Start to The Rayleigh Mann Series

Rayleigh Mann in the Company of Monsters comes with some wonderful characters, principally Rayleigh. He lives in London with his mother and his father's mother and feels a bit of an outcast at school. He knows some children at school, mainly from the times they've all been in detention, and arranges to meet up with them on Hallowe'en but the evening doesn't go as expected. The children have a limited time to go to go door to door for trick or treat as there is a 6pm curfew. The curfew has been imposed for power saving measures but, as the evening advances, Rayleigh begins to wonder if the real reason the government has imposed the restriction is to protect the people from monsters. Some of the outfits just seem to be too realistic. Ciannon Smart introduces her readers to a wide range of characters including Rayleigh's new friend, Marley, his uncle Thelonius, his frightparents - Gasp, Mary and Shade, and his father Bogey. With such great characters and a captivating storyline this book can't fail to please young readers. My only feeling is that the ending was a bit inconclusive. Although this is intended as a series I think it would be even better if each book was a complete story and didn't end with a cliffhanger.