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Beasties
In this all-new adventure from the New York Times bestselling author of the Seven Wonders series, Peter Lerangis, four kids discover an alien artifact in Central Park that turns them into animals. The clock is ticking for them to find a cure—before the park’s predators find them first.
On a field trip to Central Park, Riley and his classmates accidentally encounter a supernatural artifact that looks a lot like, well, honestly … a piece of poop. But one of them gets too close, there’s a blinding flash, and suddenly the five friends are turned into various critters. Riley’s sister’s a hawk, the school bully’s a raccoon, and Riley? He’s transformed into everyone’s least favorite animal, a New York City rat.
Their once-dull morning quickly turns into a fight for survival. The kids have stayed alive long enough find a way to turn themselves back to normal. But as it turns out, they’re not the only humans-turned-into-animals on the loose in Central Park.…
As it turns out, Riley and his friends have accidentally thrust themselves into the center of a dangerous Manhattan-wide plot. And now they must use all their animal abilities to stop the bad guys, find the cure, and get back home without, you know, getting eaten on the way. It’s a wild adventure of a lifetime—because if they fail, these beasties will stay beasts forever.
On a field trip to Central Park, Riley and his classmates accidentally encounter a supernatural artifact that looks a lot like, well, honestly … a piece of poop. But one of them gets too close, there’s a blinding flash, and suddenly the five friends are turned into various critters. Riley’s sister’s a hawk, the school bully’s a raccoon, and Riley? He’s transformed into everyone’s least favorite animal, a New York City rat.
Their once-dull morning quickly turns into a fight for survival. The kids have stayed alive long enough find a way to turn themselves back to normal. But as it turns out, they’re not the only humans-turned-into-animals on the loose in Central Park.…
As it turns out, Riley and his friends have accidentally thrust themselves into the center of a dangerous Manhattan-wide plot. And now they must use all their animal abilities to stop the bad guys, find the cure, and get back home without, you know, getting eaten on the way. It’s a wild adventure of a lifetime—because if they fail, these beasties will stay beasts forever.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published April 1, 2025
4 people are currently reading
2745 people want to read
About the author
Peter Lerangis
151 books794 followersLerangis's work includes The Viper's Nest and The Sword Thief, two titles in the children's-book series The 39 Clues, the historical novel Smiler's Bones, the YA dark comedy-adventure novel wtf, the Drama Club series, the Spy X series, the Watchers series, the Abracadabra series, and the Antarctica two-book adventure, as well ghostwriting for series such as the Three Investigators, the Hardy Boys Casefiles, Sweet Valley Twins, and more than forty books in the series The Baby-sitters Club and its various spin-offs.[1] He has also written novels based on film screenplays, including The Sixth Sense, Sleepy Hollow, and Beauty and the Beast, and five video game novelizations in the Worlds of Power series created by Seth Godin.[2] As a ghostwriter he has been published under the name A. L. Singer.[3]
Lerangis is the son of a retired New York Telephone Company employee and a retired public-elementary-school secretary, who raised him in Freeport, New York on Long Island. He graduated from Harvard University with a degree in biochemistry, while acting in musicals[4] and singing with and musically directing the a cappella group the Harvard Krokodiloes,[5][6] before moving to New York. He worked there as an actor[7] and freelance copy editor for eight years before becoming an author.[8]
In 2003, Lerangis was chosen by First Lady Laura Bush to accompany her to the first Russian Book Festival, hosted by Russian First Lady Lyudmila Putina in Moscow.[9][10]Authors R. L. Stine (Goosebumps) and Marc Brown (the Arthur the Aardvark series) also made the trip with Bush.[9]
Also in 2003, Lerangis was commissioned by the United Kingdom branch of Scholastic to write X-Isle, one of four books that would relaunch the Point Horror series there.[11] A sequel, Return to X-Isle, was published in 2004.
In 2007, Scholastic announced the launch of a new historical mystery series called The 39 Clues, intended to become a franchise.[12] Lerangis wrote the third book in the series, The Sword Thief, published in March 2009.[13][14][15] On March 3, 2009, Scholastic announced that Lerangis would write the seventh book in the series, The Viper's Nest.[14][16]
Lerangis lives in New York City with his wife, musician Tina deVaron, and their sons Nick and Joe.[17]
Lerangis is the son of a retired New York Telephone Company employee and a retired public-elementary-school secretary, who raised him in Freeport, New York on Long Island. He graduated from Harvard University with a degree in biochemistry, while acting in musicals[4] and singing with and musically directing the a cappella group the Harvard Krokodiloes,[5][6] before moving to New York. He worked there as an actor[7] and freelance copy editor for eight years before becoming an author.[8]
In 2003, Lerangis was chosen by First Lady Laura Bush to accompany her to the first Russian Book Festival, hosted by Russian First Lady Lyudmila Putina in Moscow.[9][10]Authors R. L. Stine (Goosebumps) and Marc Brown (the Arthur the Aardvark series) also made the trip with Bush.[9]
Also in 2003, Lerangis was commissioned by the United Kingdom branch of Scholastic to write X-Isle, one of four books that would relaunch the Point Horror series there.[11] A sequel, Return to X-Isle, was published in 2004.
In 2007, Scholastic announced the launch of a new historical mystery series called The 39 Clues, intended to become a franchise.[12] Lerangis wrote the third book in the series, The Sword Thief, published in March 2009.[13][14][15] On March 3, 2009, Scholastic announced that Lerangis would write the seventh book in the series, The Viper's Nest.[14][16]
Lerangis lives in New York City with his wife, musician Tina deVaron, and their sons Nick and Joe.[17]
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
September 8, 2024
"With only three hours left as a human being, I forgot my allergy meds."
This first line will definitely come out as one of the most awesome attention-grabbing first lines I've seen recently!
A group of sixth-graders from New York City, while on a class excursion at the Central Park, encounters a strange artifact that turns them into animals. A rat, a raccoon, a hawk, a water bug, and a parrot instead of human beings, the kids now have to find a way back to their humanity, while experiencing first-hand all the dangers of the life as urban wildlife, both from people and from predators considering them prey.
It is a fun fast-paced magical adventure without exploration of any deeper themes beyond the sheer excitement of narrow escapes though. One could expect at least that this team adventure would become a humbling experience and a point of personal growth for kids whose attitudes are clearly showed as lacking in empathy and interpersonal skills at the beginning. But perhaps a character cannot grow too much within a story that is evidently only the first in a series - what would be left for them to do in the next ones?
I got a free eARC of this title through NetGalley; the review above is my honest independent opinion of it (by someone well out of the target age group).
January 8, 2025
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
Riley Trent, who has a massive number of severe allergies, is on a field trip in New York City to the American Museum of Natural History with his twin sister, Kate. He is constantly bothered by Dylan, whose parents are tenants of the posh Fifth Avenue building where Riley’s parents are managers, and when Dylan puts oak blossoms in Riley’s backpack, there is a chase that ends in a tent with a sign that says “Do not enter”. Dylan disappears, and before we know it, Riley and his classmates are turned into animals. They eventually discover that the culprit is a historic piece of poop, and set off to uncover the mystery. Sarah is turned into a parrot and taken to the zoo, so the group heads there to rescue her. Once they break her out, they try to get her to talk to Dylan and Riley’s parents at the apartment building, but the parents chase off the “beasties”. They head back to the zoo, and get a tip to talk to “Uncle Chester”, a coyote who holds the key to the antidote. This involves a mystery, and the children have to find the Proteus 2 asteroid as an antidote. At the end of the book, the children are approached to be elite spies, using their shape shifting abilities. There are a large number of endnotes; in the e arc, these were clickable, but it looks like the print version might require turning to the back to read these.
This reminded me a little of The Forgotten Five #1 Map of Flames by Lisa McMann or even London’s The Wild Ones, with the children’s escapades across the city while trying to function as a rat, raccoon, parrot, etc. This had a lot of adventure and humor, with the interplanetary poop being the catalyst for the transformation. There’s a bit of character development, with the over-the-top spoiled rich kid Dylan becoming a little more pleasant. Lerangis has a tendency to do shorter (often three book) series like Max Tilt: Fire in the Depths, Throwback, and Seven Wonders, so I imagine that we will soon find out more about the Beasties.
Riley Trent, who has a massive number of severe allergies, is on a field trip in New York City to the American Museum of Natural History with his twin sister, Kate. He is constantly bothered by Dylan, whose parents are tenants of the posh Fifth Avenue building where Riley’s parents are managers, and when Dylan puts oak blossoms in Riley’s backpack, there is a chase that ends in a tent with a sign that says “Do not enter”. Dylan disappears, and before we know it, Riley and his classmates are turned into animals. They eventually discover that the culprit is a historic piece of poop, and set off to uncover the mystery. Sarah is turned into a parrot and taken to the zoo, so the group heads there to rescue her. Once they break her out, they try to get her to talk to Dylan and Riley’s parents at the apartment building, but the parents chase off the “beasties”. They head back to the zoo, and get a tip to talk to “Uncle Chester”, a coyote who holds the key to the antidote. This involves a mystery, and the children have to find the Proteus 2 asteroid as an antidote. At the end of the book, the children are approached to be elite spies, using their shape shifting abilities. There are a large number of endnotes; in the e arc, these were clickable, but it looks like the print version might require turning to the back to read these.
This reminded me a little of The Forgotten Five #1 Map of Flames by Lisa McMann or even London’s The Wild Ones, with the children’s escapades across the city while trying to function as a rat, raccoon, parrot, etc. This had a lot of adventure and humor, with the interplanetary poop being the catalyst for the transformation. There’s a bit of character development, with the over-the-top spoiled rich kid Dylan becoming a little more pleasant. Lerangis has a tendency to do shorter (often three book) series like Max Tilt: Fire in the Depths, Throwback, and Seven Wonders, so I imagine that we will soon find out more about the Beasties.
July 12, 2025
Riley isn’t a fan of school. His classmates make fun of his looks. He is not looking to go to school. On a field trip to Central Park, Riley and his classmates accidentally encounter a supernatural artifact that looks a lot like a piece of poop. Riley runs after the bully who has taken something from him. They run past the construction sign saying “Do not enter.” But when Riley goes into the tent he can’t seem to find him. When Riley gets too close to the “poop” there is a flash of light When he feels finds himself shrinking, he can’t believe it. When it stops (the shrinking), he discovers he is now a rat. Riley is horrified. He discovers that his friends have gotten too close and have turned into various animals. Riley's sister's a hawk, the school bully's a raccoon. Their once-dull morning quickly turns into a fight for survival. The kids have stayed alive long enough find a way to turn themselves back to normal. But as it turns out, they're not the only humans-turned-into-animals on the loose in Central Park. As it turns out, Riley and his friends have accidentally thrust themselves into the center of a dangerous Manhattan-wide plot, and now they must use all their animal abilities to stop the bad guys, find the cure, and get back home without, you know, getting eaten on the way. If they fail, the beasties will stay beasts forever. Will they be able to get back to their human bodies?
It's a wild and crazy adventure of a lifetime. There were moments whe I laughed and other times when I worried if they could solve the mystery of turning back to humans. It’s an amazing story to read. It will be a book that I will get and keep for myself.
Disclaimer: I received an arc of this book from the author/publisher from Netgalley. I wasn’t obligated to write a favorable review. The opinions expressed are strictly my own.
It's a wild and crazy adventure of a lifetime. There were moments whe I laughed and other times when I worried if they could solve the mystery of turning back to humans. It’s an amazing story to read. It will be a book that I will get and keep for myself.
Disclaimer: I received an arc of this book from the author/publisher from Netgalley. I wasn’t obligated to write a favorable review. The opinions expressed are strictly my own.
February 25, 2025
thanks to edelweiss for providing the e-arc for this book.
I've read Peter Lerangis' Seven Wonders, his contribution to The 39 Clues, and the first book of Max Tilt. I've enjoyed most of those when I was a teen and I think this book is the weakest one I've read of his, perhaps because…
…the target audience of this book seems to be leaning towards children, less mature than his previous books I've read. This book is full of fart/poop jokes, unsurprisingly just looking at the blurb " supernatural artifact that looks a lot like, well, honestly … a piece of poop"
The kids have decent characteristics and decent arcs. Not something outstanding, they're just fine and honestly some are annoying, which is again… fine, since they're kids.
The reason I requested this book is the mystery, I want to read something lighter, adventurous, to capture the magic when I was reading Lerangis' books back then. But it didn't really go there until the second half of the book, which make sense since it's a first book with the first half exploring the character dynamics. But the mystery itself is quite good, maybe a little bit too easy to solve with the parts/clues close to them and falling into their laps.
The epilogue is something I kinda didn't expect, especially since it involved *****, my rational mind is just questioning this one even if, ESPECIALLY IF, it's a kids book. I don't know why they're even involved in this one. Removing the involvement of ***** might be better for me. But once again it's just… fine.
I've read Peter Lerangis' Seven Wonders, his contribution to The 39 Clues, and the first book of Max Tilt. I've enjoyed most of those when I was a teen and I think this book is the weakest one I've read of his, perhaps because…
…the target audience of this book seems to be leaning towards children, less mature than his previous books I've read. This book is full of fart/poop jokes, unsurprisingly just looking at the blurb " supernatural artifact that looks a lot like, well, honestly … a piece of poop"
The kids have decent characteristics and decent arcs. Not something outstanding, they're just fine and honestly some are annoying, which is again… fine, since they're kids.
The reason I requested this book is the mystery, I want to read something lighter, adventurous, to capture the magic when I was reading Lerangis' books back then. But it didn't really go there until the second half of the book, which make sense since it's a first book with the first half exploring the character dynamics. But the mystery itself is quite good, maybe a little bit too easy to solve with the parts/clues close to them and falling into their laps.
The epilogue is something I kinda didn't expect, especially since it involved *****, my rational mind is just questioning this one even if, ESPECIALLY IF, it's a kids book. I don't know why they're even involved in this one. Removing the involvement of ***** might be better for me. But once again it's just… fine.
January 30, 2025
While on a field trip a group of friends and one that is not so friendly come in really close to an artifact that looks like poo, no why the kids would get near something that looks like poo is beyond me, but they are kids. Kids are kids. Then there is a blinding flash and they are turned into different animals. Rat, racoon, hawk, parrot, and a water loving bug. If that is not bad enough the group finds themselves in the middle of Manhattan and must fight and work together if they to find a cure to turn them back human.
Wow, what a book! I wish I knew where some of these authors get their ideas. This story is so much fun it is great for all types and ages of readers. It was great to see the kids think outside the box to get things done the way they are now. It was nice that they all did come together to work as a team. This book has so much action and suspense you just can not put it down, definitely a book that will keep you up past your bedtime.
Review copy was supplied by Netgalley
Wow, what a book! I wish I knew where some of these authors get their ideas. This story is so much fun it is great for all types and ages of readers. It was great to see the kids think outside the box to get things done the way they are now. It was nice that they all did come together to work as a team. This book has so much action and suspense you just can not put it down, definitely a book that will keep you up past your bedtime.
Review copy was supplied by Netgalley
September 20, 2024
I loved the premise of this book - 5 kids from different social groups who get accidentally/magically turned into animals while on a field trip and have to work together to not only survive but also to figure a way out of their situation and to become human again.
There were lots of twists and turns in the story and some good discussions could be had based on this book about persevere, trust, teamwork, compassion, and that people may not be what they first seem.
I think this book may be an enjoyable read for my upper elementary school students, though I personally found the pacing a bit slow. I would still recommend it to a student looking for a relatively low stress sci-fi adventure story.
I received an ARC of this ebook from NetGalley.
There were lots of twists and turns in the story and some good discussions could be had based on this book about persevere, trust, teamwork, compassion, and that people may not be what they first seem.
I think this book may be an enjoyable read for my upper elementary school students, though I personally found the pacing a bit slow. I would still recommend it to a student looking for a relatively low stress sci-fi adventure story.
I received an ARC of this ebook from NetGalley.
April 13, 2025
I really like this book! We readers need to have a break from heavier, thought-provoking stories, especially kids! This book is outrageously funny and adventurous. Characters are developed lightly but not stereotypically. Kids, just like adults, don’t always want to read books with deep-themes and characters. VERDICT: Beasties is a good quality fun read for middle grades and reluctant readers.
August 7, 2025
When Riley and her class go on a field trip, everything changes. They are exposed to an ancient artifact and turned into different critters found around New York City. They must steal the artifact to turn them back. I'd say this book is very adventurous and fun. Giving this a 5-star should be fair enough.
Want to read
September 29, 2024ARC received! Thank you, HarperCollins Children's Books!
October 16, 2024
Thank you to NetGalley, HarperCollins Children's Books, and Peter Lerangis for the eARC of Beasties. A fun premise, a slightly dragging narrative. Worth a read for kiddos looking for a feel-good adventure who have some patience.
April 28, 2025
This was full of fart and poop jokes which I'm sure many middle grade readers will enjoy. It was lot for me..but I'll probably still booktalk this one since it has so much appeal. It was action packed, talked about friendship and had animals.
May 31, 2025
You ever see that Magic School Bus episode "In the city" where the kids turn into foxes, opossums and other urban wildlife? This is like that but if the kids had to also figure out how to get the item that could turn them back into humans. The kids (Beasties as they call themselves) in this book must figure out how to use the skills of the animals they have become in order to get back the items needed for them to be human again. Along the way they must also figure out how to put there differences aside and work as a team.
This book was a quick fun read. There is not a lot of character development and I feel as if some character's like Carlos didn't really need to be in the story. It's definitely targeted for young kids, most of the jokes have to do with poop and farts.
The ending wraps everything up but leaves the story open for the possibility of more. If there are more books in this series then I hope future instalments focus on some of the other characters besides Riley and Kate. These two get the bulk of the focus and character development in this story so it would be nice if future instalments give some attention to other characters like Dylan, he is a bully but this story never really explains why despite dropping hints that there is a reason he picks on Riley.
Thank You to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC copy.
This book was a quick fun read. There is not a lot of character development and I feel as if some character's like Carlos didn't really need to be in the story. It's definitely targeted for young kids, most of the jokes have to do with poop and farts.
The ending wraps everything up but leaves the story open for the possibility of more. If there are more books in this series then I hope future instalments focus on some of the other characters besides Riley and Kate. These two get the bulk of the focus and character development in this story so it would be nice if future instalments give some attention to other characters like Dylan, he is a bully but this story never really explains why despite dropping hints that there is a reason he picks on Riley.
Thank You to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC copy.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews