Twist, by Sarah Cannon

Twist, by Sarah Cannon (middle grade, Feiwel Friends, February 2020) is the story of three kids trying to save their Oklahoma town from monsters, while keeping a whole bevy of magical creatures safe as well.  It's a fun one for kids who like magical creature mayhem, and "horror" that stays on the light side of things, with no actual gruesome violence. 

Eli is an aspiring horror writer, and has typed out (this being the 1980s) many grotesque monsters, and sent many kids to unpleasant ends.  Neha, a newish kid who's Indian-American, fills her notebooks with drawings of an imaginary town.  And Court is the sort of kid who plunges into experiences without a second thought, and who's become well-practiced at cleaning up the mess that inevitably results.  

When Court picks up a page torn out of Neha's notebook by a jerk on the school bus, she finds out Neha's secret--her imaginary town is populated by a wide range of bizarre beings, who are living their lives in the homes she's drawn for them.  But monsters have also come to Neha's town, and her friends are in danger.  Eli gets drawn in to the plan to save the creatures by bringing in them into the real world, and now the three of them have homes that are over-run with mischievous, hungry, loyal, impossible creatures! (which fortunately can't be seen by grown-ups, though the adults can see the resulting mess...)

But the monsters don't stay trapped in Neha's drawings.  Soon they break through to our world too, and they are happy to prey not only on the creatures, but on kids.  So Court, Neha, and Eli, with a little help from younger siblings, and some inspiration from the D. and D. game run by Court's big sister,set out to take back their town.

The creatures are wonderfully unique, and very entertaining to read about, especially if you like chaos (as an adult, the chaos was too much for me--I would not want all these creatures eating me out of house and home).  The bad monsters are scary, and capable of real harm, but don't actually get a chance to do it (lots of kids get attacked, but manage to beat back the monsters or escape them).  There's lots of humor, with 1980s pop-culture references and slapstick creature mayhem bits, but the part that entertained me most was that instead of collapsing under the weight of monster foiling, the three protagonists are amusingly up-beat a lot of the time, reacting with sarcasm and exasperation when things go badly (which they do...).  

It's a struggle to defeat the monsters, and it's not an entirely satisfying ending, but the three kids do a great job mustering their forces and thinking creatively.  Especially recommended to kids who like to make creatures up themselves!