Scary School

May 16, 2011
Writing as 11-year-old Derek the Ghost, debut author Kent offers an episodic, meandering account of Scary School, "the first and only school to mix regular kids with Scary Kids and Scary teachers." Derek, whose unfinished business is to haunt the school, narrates this journey (which recalls Louis Sachar's Wayside School books in format), introducing a large cast of dinosaurs, monsters, and plain old humans. Grisly, gross-out humor is in ample supply, and the threat of death is never far ("After being eaten by Dr. Dragonbreath, every kid in his class learned a very important life lesson about following rules and an even more important lesson about not trusting dragons that wear suits"). In one chapter, after Miss Fang drains one student's blood, a long chain of blood transfusions follows, with students alternately dropping dead and being revived. The book moves so quickly from character to character that it's difficult to fully appreciate their eccentricities, and Derek's narrative delay tactics ("more about that in future books") get old. But reluctant readers with a taste for wicked humor should be entertained. Final art not seen by PW. Ages 8â12.

May 1, 2011

Kent takes school integration to a new level with breezy tales of "learning, horror, and mayhem" at a grade school attended by a mix of humans and monsters.

As narrated by a chem-class fatality, the school year kicks off with the near-total consumption of a fifth-grade class by its strict teacher, Dr. Dragonbreath, for not following Class Rule Number Five: "No student is allowed to read this sentence." Further reductions in the student body come thanks to a temperamental vampire teacher, the aptly named Principal Headcrusher, the peckish librarian/disciplinary officer Mrs. T (for Tyrannosaurus) and a variety of "accidents." By year's end, the survivors of these and such other hazards as the playground's "well of a thousand screams" have also had a gross and vivid lesson in anatomy from a half-zombie who shucks off his skin to show his organs in action, enjoyed delicious lunches prepared by a student of WereWolfgang Puck and are ready for a climactic round of Ghoul Games against a worldwide array of all-monster schools. Aside from being mostly monsters, the cast looks like a typical set of students and teachers in Fischer's frequent spot-art sketches. A dedicated web site offers further goofs and games, and the author repeatedly promises sequels.

Familiar light fare for fans of the Wayside and Bailey School series, the Zack Files, Ghostville Elementary, etc., etc. (Funny horror. 8-11)

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

July 1, 2011
Grades 3-6 Imagine if the teachers from Mike Thaler's Black Lagoon series lived up to their students' fears, and you will understand life at Scary School, a place where monsters and humans learn side by side. The book is narrated by snarky 11-year-old Derek the Ghost, who perished at Scary School long before the story starts. Linking his vignettes and character profiles is a loose narrative describing the school's preparation for the annual Ghoul Games. Derek makes frequent allusions to events in later chapters and even to unwritten books, and this teasing storytelling style enhances the humor, as Kent initially tosses aside odd events and then resolves them when least expected. The artwork, a mix of full-page drawings and spot sketches, has a comic flair and helps bring to life the strange, and occasionally human, characters. Sometimes gross and never frightening, this is a laugh-out-loud offering that should find a broad and appreciative audience among boys and girls alike.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)