This ethnographic study interrogates youth understandings of the concept of "monstrosity" as presented in young adult speculative fiction novels and as it pertains to contemporary U.S. politics. The monster is a popular figure in fiction for adolescents, and it often serves a metaphorical political function within its narratives. This study broadens the theoretical approaches to scholarship about monstrosity by incorporating youth theories into ongoing conversations about metaphor, affect, and literary representation as they pertain to the monster. Twelve participants from the ages of 14 to 18 participated in a six-month digital book club, held on the social networking site Discord. Participants discussed 11 young adult novels featuring monsters published during or after 2015 to determine how the construct of the "monster" functions as a means of both creating and understanding contemporary political ideologies. As the facilitator of the book club, I analyzed the themes of the participants' conversations and put them into scholarly context, resulting in three overarching definitions of monstrosity developed through the youth theory: invisible monsters (or monstrous internal affective forces), the monstrous oppressed, and monstrous oppressors. An emotion-based understanding of the monster mythology emerged, in which the heightened narrative of the attacking monster, the innocent victim, and the courageous hero are used to organize understandings of cultural fears and harms. These theories cross disciplinary boundaries and open new avenues for the study of monstrosity. This study also puts forth an argument for the inclusion of youth theory in the study of children's and young adult literature, as well as the benefits of media-based political research with minors. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]