Shooting Monarchs

by John Halliday

Macy grew up unwanted, unloved, and alone. By his teens he had quit school and begun stealing. In and out of juvie, Macy is a shoplifter, a car thief, and, by age eighteen, a murderer. Danny grew up physically disabled, raised by his grandmother, and a loner. Now sixteen, he finds solace in taking photographs, particularly of monarch butterflies, and thinking about Leah, the most beautiful girl in town. It is Leah who unwittingly causes these two very different boys, who share some startling similarities, to meet in a first and final terrifying encounter. The outcome of this hard-hitting and spellbinding novel from an exciting new author will rivet readers and leave them thinking about nature, nurture, justice, and the remarkable power of human kindness.

Genres: Young Adult, Realistic Fiction, Teen

128 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2003

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great murder mystery....wonderful writing.

[Zac]

I didn't really like this book because of its weird turn. I did like how it gave a good amount of detail. I thought how macy grew up was awful. Maybe if his mom was better to him he would of turned out different. I thought it was weird that he randomly kidnapped a girl on the street. I felt bad after the book told me about the girl before she got kidnapped. I couldn't finish the book. I thought it was to weird and really depressing. I did like how the girl was so smart during the kidnapping. I don't think it was fair how the boy grew up.

[Chris Wooley · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was recommended this book by a friend, who said it was a quick, easy and enjoyable read. After reading it, I can easily say that, yes, it was quick and easy. Enjoyable, however, is an entirely different story. The book, which I finished in under two hours, is a little over 150 pages. What kept me reading these pages was not a love of the story and characters, and a genuine interest in their well-beings, but a sick, morbid curiosity and a desire to see these boring drab characters meet a gruesome, painful demise. It is an agonizing book, filled with flat, static characters, whose back stories are either hastily crammed into half a page, and spend two pages "devoloping", or, if the character is more minor, no backstory at all. From the first page, in which we are introduced to Macy and his bum of a mother, we are treated to an "inside view" into the mind of a serial killer. However, Macy, the killer, isn't serial in the slightest. The three victims throughout the story, the shop clerk, the runner and the crippled photographer, are not selected based on a set profile, or murdered in similar ways. They are just random acts of violence by a common thug with mommy issues. Arguably the only line that I can remember is from very early on in the novel, where Macy's mother, having just given birth during the Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade, requests that the boy be named after the department store. Just the sheer ridiculousness of a the scenario baffles me, and alienated me early in the book. It just proceeded to go downhill from there, as it introduced a man who believed garlic is the reason he had a miracle child, a cop who's backstory is this novel's attempt at a heartwarming Mentor-Changed-My-Life story, and a love sick highschooler, whos back story is an attempt to mimic that of Macy's, bringing about a sense of parallellism. Indeed, the only character who I actually liked was the cop's nephew, a young baseball player who is the epitome of a spaz. His odd antics are just about the only believable thing in the novel.

One thing I will say for the novel is that it's ending, while still predicable, was still able to elict a bit of suprise from me, although that was more due to the fact that my brain had rotted half way through the 2nd chapter, and I was unable to predict it myself. Indeed, in the last pages of the novel, Halliday even places a note, stating that most of the novel was a combination of personal friends and speculation on a similar case. The man actually comes out and says that the book is based on his own understanding of "serial killers" as opposed to actual research.

In the end, I would only recommend this book to people who have friends or family members who are comatose... to use as a prop for their pillows. Shooting Monarchs is a stain on modern lierature, and should be destroyed post haste, lest we expose our children to this shoddy attempt at writing.

[Alberto Octavio]

What kept me reading this book was that it was just very interesting to read, i kept wanting to read more and more cause it just kept getting more interesting as I went on. This book grabbed my attention quickly. My favorite character in the book was macy, he was the main character of the noval. Hes my favorite character because he grew up with no father and his mother was never home and he just became a total badass. While I was reading this book I started feeling very anxiose about what was going to happen next. My least favorite character is macys mother. The reason is because the way she just left little macy tied up by the leg to a playground, and it started raining and getting cold. While he was laying there in the mub and rain, his mother was out drinking with men. “you didn’t really expect me to allow that animal in my car, did you?”. The reason the author wrote this book, was to give a thrill to people who read it, and to understand to watchout to suspisouse people and odd looking vehicles. The beginning of the book really grabbed my attention. Because the mother was giving birth and she wanted to watch the thanksgiving parade, and she was so busy watching the parade she didn’t know what to name the baby so she looked at the tv screen and saw a macys parade and decided to name it macy. I would recommend this book to people who like books about killers and people that have crual and brutal childhoods and grow up to be twisted people. If shooting monarchs was made into a movie, I would say that Jhonny dept could play the role of macy because he has that pale no emotion look on him.

[Sydney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shooting Monarchs, by John Halliday, was a very interesting book that will make you want to read it in one sitting. It kept my attention the whole time I was reading it. I enjoyed reading this book. At first, I thought it was a weird book, but then it got really interesting near the end. The beginning of the book was a bit slow, but it got really interesting in the second half of the book. My favorite character was Leah. She was really nice to Danny, even when no one else was. Even when she was getting kidnapped by Macy, she remained calm and looked for a way out. On page 88, Leah said, “But surprising to herself, Leah did not feel any panic. Within seconds of being locked in the trunk, her mind was searching for ways to save herself, ways to solve the problem.” I liked this quote because it shows how self-reliant she is and that she doesn’t freak out in the face of danger. My least favorite character was definitely Chad, Leah’s boyfriend. Throughout the whole story, he was mean to everyone, especially Danny. He was caught drinking beer and he just wasn’t a very good person. On page 117, after Danny was shot, Chad said, “Nice shooting, Sheriff.” He jumped to the wrong conclusion and congratulated the sheriff on shooting Danny, even though it was Macy that shot him. That shows how insensitive and rude Chad is. All in all, I really enjoyed reading the book Shooting Monarchs, John Halliday.

[Angelie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This thrilling book "Shooting Monarchs" was written in 2003 by John Halliday. The main Character of this book, Macy grew up with a hard life, unwanted, unloved, and no one to look after him. The book states," In and out of juvie, Macy is a shoplifter, a car thief, and, by age eighteen, a murderer". My Favorite Character was Leah Hoffman, she lived a great life and was the star of the track team and basically the whole school. Leah had a secret admirer named Danny Driscoll or "Danny Dromedary" as some liked to call him. Danny lived only with his grandma in an old house. Danny was disabled and the only place he felt he could truly be himself was up in the valley. One day Leah Hoffman's almost perfect life took a Dramatic turn, down hill. Thank goodness for Danny who saved her life, although it had many consequences. This book teaches the morals and importances of life, its short so value it! I enjoyed this book very much, it was one that can get you really hooked. I went from sitting on the edge of my seat to being filled with many different emotions. It was defiantly a fast read and worth the time. My favorite quote from this book was, "You think to much, Just do it!"-Sally Hoffman.

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Macy is a child with very little hope, few options, and no love or support from adults. He continues on a downward spiral as he drops out of school and progresses from shoplifting to more serious crimes such as robbery, kidnapping, and murder. The author paints vivid pictures of Macy's victims so that readers care about them: Mohammad Aziz, who wants to earn money for his son's birthday party; Maria Hernandez, who is the center of her parents' life; and Danny Driscoll, who is a gifted photographer and is able to find beauty in the most ordinary things around him.

[Quinci · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was really good it had a lot of different characters and you can most likely relate to at least one of them and at the end all the characters tie together but i did not care for the ending.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

beautifully written. Great pace and length. this story and its characters will stay with me for a long time. Great read, highly recommend.

[Andrew Johnson]

Shooting monarchs was a group of stories about different people involved murders performed by a serial killer named Macy. Macy was born on Thanksgiving to a mother who really didn’t care about him. Instead of worrying about having a baby she was worried she would miss the Thanksgiving Parade. When she was given her baby and was asked for a name she said Macys because a Macys float was passing the screen. In Macy’s childhood his mother would usually just leave him and stay out late. On one of these leaves, when Macy was very young, she left Macy tied to the swing set. Macy enjoyed the swing set so he was happy until a rain storm rolled in. When the rain started to fall Macy tried to hide but had nowhere to go because of his leash. So he was outside for hours until his drunken mother got home and untied and sent him to bed. The author intentions are to explain the causes of a bad childhood. He later ran away and got into lots of trouble. He went to juvie multiple times and even when to prison in his teens. But one day at age 16 he bought a gun at a pawn shop with no trouble at all. And on that Thanksgiving he robbed a super market and shot and killed the cashier. From then on his career of killing people began. He is also my favorite character because the most interesting. He later stole a car and murdered a high school girl for no reason. This part grabbed my attention the most because he started his killing spree. While this is going on a family in a small town settle down in their new home. The family has two daughters Leah and Sally. Leah is the older of the two. She has a boy friend named Chad. She doesn’t really like him decided to stay with him for popularity reasons. Then there’s Danny Discroll. He is the town nerd and town hunch back. His back is crooked so everyday tasks are hard for him. The town they live in, Shiloh, was very small and laid back. It’s only until Macy comes and kidnaps Leah that the town realizes the potential for their relaxed views. Luckily Danny comes to Leah’s rescue like his dreams he use to in have days before. Unfortunately Macy shoots Danny before he could get away. But thankfully the sheriff of the town, Sheriff Johnson, finds and arrests Macy for his crimes. Macy is sentenced to court the kidnapping of Leah and the murder of Maria, the high school student killed earlier in the story.

[Alexandria Wolford · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is phenomenal, I honestly didn’t think I would like this book because I never read or like to but this book made me feel ways no other book ever has. This book caused me to fell many emotions such as sadness, hurt, happiness, hopeful, interest, anger, and most of all suspense. One of my favorite lines from this book would have to be “I’ll be there in sunshine or in shadow, oh Danny boy, oh Danny boy, I love you.”pg.121 It made me remember a great song that I learned at grief camp, this book makes you remember good and bad times but made me feel that there’s always a bright side no matter how bad things get. There are so many parts in this book that will cat your attention from cover to end you will never get uninterested. The first chapter immediately catches you attention with sadness and the book goes on and becomes so interesting by the time a girl names Maria is introduced you are stuck and can’t put the book down. Things in this book that will keep you reading would have to be the dram in it. This is an absolutely breath taking novel from the drama filled beginning to end. Some people try and predict what will happen at the end well at least that was I usually did, but not this time I was to hooked to even think about the ending I was too distracted what crazy thing would happen next. I tried to pick a lease favorite character in this book but I couldn’t because every character was dead on in the book. If this book was made into a movie, I have no idea who would be good for any role because to be honest if this book was made into a movie it would probable get ruined in my opinion. I think the reason the author wrote this was to write a story from his inspirations which where the people that were in his life or people who knew about. This is a fiction story so I’m pretty sure one of the main reasons he wrote this what to tell an amazing story and keep people on the edge of their seats. I would recommend this amazing book for everyone it is for a little bit more audience but if you can take drama, happiness, pain in a great book you should read it.

[Marisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Essay
Shooting Monarchs
I would recommend this book to everyone because this is a story that will take effect on them and realize how thankful they are to have loving and caring parents.

My favorite character in this book was Maria because, she really did inspire people. She was an awesome athlete and a good role model.

My least favorite character was Macy’s mother because she wasn’t a role model to her son at all, never did care for him, treated him with disrespect, doesn’t love him, doesn’t want him and said that he as just another mistake in her life.

I think that the author wrote this book so that kids, ands teens would think about and realize how thankful they should be to have parents that care. Even though your mom and dad say no to some things that you want and you won’t be happy with them, they have their reason for saying no. they are trying to show you the good in life and not the bad, trying to prevent something bad from happening.

When Maria was running her everyday route and Macy was in the car watching her run and followed her then kidnapped her in the rain is the portion that catched my attention.

I wasn’t really able to predict the end of this story.

If this book became a movie I would want to play Maria’s part.

The emotion that this book caused me to feel was disgust in macy’s mother, and I felt sorry for macy and how he struggled in life, but I’m mad at macy for what he did to Maria.

My favorite line in the book is ‘twenty-three hours passed between the time they arrived at the hospital and the arrival of Maria.’’ “she was worth waiting for ,’’ Mr. Heranez said. His wife agreed. Maria was cute and smart and everybody liked her.’’

[Letkia Martinez]

I like the book because it’s really interesting so far, and it has lots of drama. I would recommend this book to my older sister because she would read a book like this. The part that captivated my attention was when the character Maria died. If this book was made into a movie, the actors I would use is Jim Kerry to play Macy, and I would choose Jamie Lee Curtis to play the mother, because she played a good mom on freaky Friday. My favorite character in this book is Macy because he’s been through a lot and I feel sorry for him. My least favorite character in the book is his mother because she treated him really bad when he was younger. The thing that kept me reading this book was all the drama in the book, such as the fighting in stuff. The emotions this book caused me to feel was sorry and sad, because of the way his mom treated him. The author John Halliday wrote this book because it reminded him of someone he knew. I wasn’t able to predict the ending of the book because I wasn’t able to finish the book. My favorite line in the book is “During the opening ceremony the school superintendent said they would dedicate the meet to Maria, and at the closing ceremony at the principal said they would install a flagpole at the high school track as a permanent memorial to Maria. “

[Jesse Robertson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shooting Monarchs
By. John Halliday
I would recommend this book to young adults who are interested in suspenseful and thrilling books because this book keeps you on the edge of your seat and wondering what’s going to happen next. My favorite character was Macy because he went through hard times with his mother, but he also turned out to be a serial killer. Chad is my least favorite because he is really rude, and never treats people with respect, like when Leah makes him stop to pick up Danny but right as he reaches the car Chad speeds away and leaves Danny in the road. To entertain readers with a suspenseful and entertaining book. At the end when he had all them on top of Shiloh hill and it gets so suspenseful and you are wondering what’s going to happen next, or who might die next. Not knowing what’s going to happen next or who’s going to die. Sometimes I felt like I could predict it, but then something changed. For actors I would chose Russell Crow as Macy, and Megan Fox as Leah. When I was reading I felt sympathy for Macy and the way he was treated as a kid. My favorite line was when Sally’s father calls her a vidiot because she watches so much TV every morning she watches The Price Is Right .

[Kylie Geist · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was dank

[Paula Hickey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written novel in which the stories of several characters are interwoven as their fates draw them toward one climatic encounter in the woods. Macy, the product of child abuse and neglect, becomes a murderer with no regard for human life. Danny, misshapened from severe, untreated scoliosis, whose mother died at his birth, becomes a kind, optimistic, artistic young man. Danny's grandmother reared him with love and stability, thus the polar differences in their destinies. Macy loves to murder beautiful, young women while Danny longs to profess his love for a beautiful young woman. Fear of rejection prevents his declaration until he makes it with his dying words, for Danny heroically saves Leah's life as Macy's plan to murder her almost succeeds.
At Danny's memorial service, Leah's younger sister Sally finishes the eulogy Leah cannot. Sally knew Danny better than anyone except his grandmother. She shares with those gathered in the high school gym a Danny they never knew. Poignant, but not sappy. So much more to the novel. . .I didn't even mention the meaning of the title!

[Sarah Lorenzo]

Shooting Monarchs was somewhat very confusing. When you read it you have to pay much attention to it. This book is about a guy named Macy, and he had a very hard life when he was young which made him very bad throughout his adulthood. He ended up going to a place where they keep bad kids and they would constantly make fun of him, which made him angry most of his teen years. He would rob stores, and he ended up randomly murdering a girl that was jogging on the side of the road! I think the author was trying to make a very suspenseful book for teens. All the suspense kept me reading this book. This book is all about suspense and what happens next. This book made me feel sad because I felt bad for Macy. The portion that kept me captivated was when he stuffed the jogging girl in the trunk because, I didn’t know what He was going to do with her so it kept my attention. My least favorite character was Chad because he was pretty stuck up and thought he was better than everybody else. I recommend this book to anyone who loves suspenseful books and murder mysteries.

[H · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wasn't really very impressed with this, but the idea behind it was good, especially the end. Maybe I'm just out of practice when it comes to murder-thriller kinds of books. There was very little action, because the author spent so much time explaining everything--he "told" the whole thing and "showed" almost nothing, which I can't stand, so maybe I'm a little biased. But even by the end I was only vaguely interested in the characters because although we did get inside their heads, it was only superfluous and contrived thoughts and nothing really substantial--for example, the author would say that so-and-so was scared, but he wouldn't go deeper than that--so when it came to the big showdown at the end, I had a hard time caring. And I would have preferred it to end at the memorial at the latest. I felt like the jury scene was just the author's excuse to get on his soapbox and preach. But he did a pretty good job with Macy. He was creepy, yet I sort of felt bad for him because no one ever tried to intervene and help him before he ruined his life.

[Neill Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Danny had an abnormal curvature of the spine, a huge heart, a crush on a girl named Leah who seemed totally out of his league, and an implacable arrogant enemy that was the Leah's boyfriend. Macy was brought up totally wrong, had absolutely no heart at all, and searched for victims wherever he was. When Macy and Leah and Danny came together it was time for the world to find out the truth of Danny.

[Laura Leonard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Macy (named for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade) grew up unwanted and unloved. Danny suffers from crippling scoliosis, but lives with a loving grandmother and has a few close friends. He is a wonderful photographer who longs to be with Leah Hoffman. It is this beautiful girl who brings these two boys together. Gripping and startling.

[Wendy Roberts · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has a lot going on within its pages. The author tries to explore some pretty difficult topics such as: nature versus nurture, mercy versus revenge, chance versus inevitability. This is probably a great book for junior high kids who are just beginning to wrestle with these issues. But it was a hard book for me to "love".

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nature vs. Nurture conflict at its best in this novel.[return][return]Macy and Danny, two teenage boys who have both grown up under difficult circumstances, turn out very differently--one becomes a hero, the other a murderer

[Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

The stories has a lot of interesting characters. I like how the plot was multifaceted and the stories of many characters intersected in a climactic way. This would be a great read for most teenagers. The story is filled with suspense and some mystery.

[Becky · Rating 2 out of 5]

A student gave me this book to read because it was her all-time favorite. Very short (130 or so pages). So many characters were introduced and underdeveloped. I did, however, like the end with the grandma's words stating the value of all human life.

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent, yet short novel. The plot is disturbing but the twists and turns provide great interesting explanations of why a guy would choose to randomly kill people.

[Kiera · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a tragedy

[Miranda · Rating 2 out of 5]

This quick read was... well, it was just okay. Sad to be sad. Blah.

[Courtney · Rating 4 out of 5]

.

[Vennesa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story really makes you think aboout how you treat your children. Two boys have similar bad experiences but each one takes it differently.

[Elvira Samara]

kept me reading