Set against the backdrop of politically turbulent Chicago in the late 1960s, ten-year-old Karen Reyes tells the story of her monsters in the form of a fictional, illustrated diary that draws on the visual language of horror B-movies and creepy pulp comics. Emil Ferris' debut graphic novel "My Favorite Thing Is Monsters" is both a murder mystery and a family drama, an engaging epic as well as a psychological thriller about monsters—both real and imagined, in the mind and in the world. With its kaleidoscopic and breathtakingly virtuosic style that combines classic comic structures with image montage, this volume is a multifaceted work of impressive originality and lasting impact.