Groosham Grange

September 1, 2008
Gr 4-6-This dark, sinister tale, which reads like a cross between Lemony Snicket's books (HarperCollins) and R. L. Stine's "Goosebumps" series (Scholastic), involves maniacal parents, supernatural monsters, and some difficult choices for its characters. David Eliot's parents make the Dursleys from "Harry Potter" seem like a loving family. Not only are they mentally abusive, but they are also horrifyingly physically abusive (Mr. Eliot throws a knife at David and is nonplussed when it ends up in his wife's chest instead). After David is expelled from school, a mysterious letter arrives, offering him a place at a boarding school located on its own island off Norfolk, England. On the train trip to Groosham Grange, David meets a boy and girl who have also been sent away for not measuring up to standards. Once they arrive, they discover strange, otherworldly teachers and students who behave in a secretive manner, rising from their beds at midnight and disappearing without a trace. David and his friends must discover the secret of Groosham Grange before their 13th birthdays, when they will be forced to make a difficult decision that will change their lives forever. Though the author portrays punishments and moments of cruelty as absurd and unrealistic, these instances may disturb some readers. Still, the mysteries, elements of witchcraft and the supernatural, and occasional instances of humor may appeal to fans of (mostly) bloodless horror."Debra Banna, Sharon Public Library, MA"

Copyright 2008 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2008
Horowitz takes a step away from his Alex Rider series to fashion a funny little spot of horror for a younger set of readers in this riff on the classic boarding-school tale. After David Elliot is expelled from a private school, he is invited to enroll in a mysterious boarding school called Groosham Grange. The school, a sort of bizarro Hogwarts, has a faculty of vampires, ghouls, and worse, and all the students have phony names, sport matching black-stone rings, and dont seem to mind being taught by monsters. For the most part, Davids subsequent adventures and attempts to escape the school are more zany than scary, but theres still plenty of yikes moments and eerie passages peppered among the silliness. The cartoonishly evil folks at Groosham make a fine point that asbad as they may seem, theyve never dropped an atomic bomb on anyone, and are just the sort of rather pleasantly evil characters ideal to give kids a few goose bumps in between snickers.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)