The Changing Man, teen-age horror that hits the nail on the head

If I was in middle or high school then The Changing Man is the sort of book that I would’ve loved. It operates on a more mature level than Goosebumps. It oozes teen paranoia and angst on the pore of every greasy page. The characters are typical teens who don’t trust anyone over 20, but know that they have to acknowledge them and sometimes seek guidance when long-dormant problems rear their heads. More than anything, my teenage soul (and the erstwhile reader) would crave the horror, the monsters and the creatures that I know exist in the book, if only they can reveal themselves at the right time.

As an adult reader, The Changing Man nails almost all of those elements down to the floor. Adebola is a somewhat typical teenage girl. She’s been awarded the Urban Achievers scholarship so that she can attend an exclusive boarding school. This school wasn’t her first choice to attend, but her parents wanted her to (stupid parents….), and making good quality friends is challenging. She’s also convinced that the standards are higher for her because she always seems to get caught doing the slightest thing wrong.

To make her teenage life even stranger, one of her real friends is changing not in a teenage kind of way. Malika’s personality has drastically changed and her new demeanor is characteristic to the urban myth about the Changing Man. The Changing Man doesn’t come around all of the time, but when it does, there are some people on campus whose personality forever twists in a different direction.

This forces Adebola to really trust two of her classmates as they try to figure out if there’s any non-fiction to the otherwise fictitious story of the Changing Man. They go through the typical late-night sneak-outs, discover adults who they can trust and eventually ask the right questions, to the right people and under the right circumstances that allow the trio to get to the meat of the monsters. When they get to the meat of the beasts the book is a real page-turner. That happens about 75% into the book and that’s the only part of The Changing Man that left us wanting more. I wish that there had been more ick, monsters and creations that were sprinkled into the build-up to that point.

It’s also at this point where I go back to my teenage self, convince it to study computers, buy Amazon and Google in the mid-90s, and realize that I would’ve love the slower build-up. The teenage crushes, school stress and mysterious evil that lurked in the heart of administrators would’ve oozed its way into my psyche. Even as a more advanced reader, I enjoyed The Changing Man, however, the book isn’t geared for my middle-aged soul.

This is the template for ages 14 through 18, who need to read, but want to read something creepy, monstrous and disgusting at times. Having said that, this is also a safe read for those ages to read, it’s age-appropriate and doesn’t make those ages get into anything that parents wouldn’t want them to. There’s also a fun sense of flow that happens in The Changing Man. Readers will journey with Adebole, see her conquer her fears, have fun on a couple of instance, be forced to have the obligatory family time, and possibly solve a long-standing mystery. This is no Scooby-Doo Mystery, this is more graphic and icky, but not gory enough to turn off parents or guardians at the gate. Instead, this good fun balances a dark mood, mystery, monsters and teenage misgivings in a way that will make those reluctant readers queue up and wonder when the next book from author Tomi Oyemakinde comes out.

The Changing Man is by Tomi Oyemakinde and is available on Feiwel & Friends, an imprint of Macmillan Publishers.

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