M.D. Payne’s Monster Juice series is being touted by his publisher as being the heir apparent to the Goosebumps throne of creepy-crawly middle grade horror. Although Payne once worked with R.L. Stein, one can’t help but wonder if Stein would approve of how fearlessly and completely Payne commits to grossing his readers out.
In the first installment of the Monster Juice series, readers meet Chris, a middle school-aged boy trying to raise money to buy a telescope. When a summer full of mowing lawns still brings him short of his goal, he takes a volunteer position at an old folks’ home called Raven Hill in hopes to win a volunteering award at school and raise the remaining funds. His innocent attempt at making money soon turns complicated, as the mysterious director and residents of Raven Hill appear to be feasting on something they harvested from inside Chris, although he is unsure exactly what that is.
Payne takes every moment to make someone or something burp, fart, have oozing wounds, smell or taste something stomach-churningly disgusting. More sensitive readers may want to skip this or risk losing their lunch and becoming an M.D. Payne character. Monster Juice is the sort of kids-only title that could possibly seen as a dog whistle of a book. While adults will recognize the words on the pages, only children will be able to understand and love it. ( )

Ages 9-12.

Chris desperately wants the TRQ92 Super Infinity Space Gazer. When he has the chance to win the money for it by volunteering, he jumps at the chance to sign up at the Raven Hill senior home. However, the seniors seem a bit different...some have rather sharp teeth, others cackle over cauldrons, and couple are hairy and howling. Could they be monsters? In any case, they are under attack from life-draining, cockroach-like sussuroblats. Chris will need to help from his friends to rescue the senior monsters from a terrible fate.

Monster Juice will please readers who find bathroom humor hilarious. Barf plays a key role, and Payne creatively describes its smell, chemical content, warning signs, and trajectory. The violent content of the novel is limited: some unfortunate monsters are overcome by the dastardly sussorublats, and the heroes must crush, zap, and dissolve the sussorublats to save the day.

While Chris’s motivation for volunteering begin as selfish, he learns to genuinely care for and respect the elderly monsters. All of the spewing action is bolstered by a sincere, though not preachy, message: lending a helping hand can be a great adventure.

Fear the Barfitron is the first of the Monster Juice series, though it works well as a stand-alone book. Recommended. ( )