The Northern Frights

April 1, 2013
Six more-or-less-human Scary School students try their luck at frozen, all-monster Scream Academy ("Be judicious or be delicious") as part of an exchange program. The experiment goes well enough at first--at least there aren't any immediate casualties--as the six are conveyed north of the Arctic Circle by giant polter-bears and thrust into classrooms filled with malign trolls, ogres, witches and worse. In chapters with titles like "The Deadly Loogie" and "Severed Head of the Class," nerdy Charles Nukid and his quailing classmates soldier on. They squeak past a continual barrage of deadly threats to a culminating one in the form of Mortazella, a huge Ice Dragon out to destroy all the monster schools. With help from a fiery sword, some much-more-fiery hot peppers and friends like Penny Possum, whose silence literally speaks volumes, Charles prevails and returns to Scary School in triumph. As in previous episodes, the monster count is high, but the body count and the level of actual violence are low. Also as before, the author/narrator ("Derek the Ghost") tucks an extra chapter of thrills into the series' website. It's billed as a trilogy finale for no evident reason except, perhaps, premise exhaustion, but that's a pretty good one. Finished art not seen. Another lightweight creature feature, with a teeming supporting cast of ookie-spookies. (Comic horror. 8-11)

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January 1, 2014

Gr 3-6-Youngsters familiar with the earlier books in this series would be the best audience for this lackluster addition, as frequent references are made to characters and plot developments without adequate explanation. Eleven-year-old Derek the Ghost introduces the story by telling readers about the latest challenge for the Scary School students: They must participate as exchange students at their evil counterpart-Scream Academy. Characters are silly and one-dimensional, such as Penny Possum (who hides like a possum in the back of the classroom) and Jason (who wears a white hockey mask like the horror-movie character). Conflicts are resolved without much fight. The students encounter some creepy characters, including witches, trolls, and an ice dragon, but they offer little suspense in a fairly predictable plot. Marsha Jones's "Ghostville Elementary" (Scholastic), Dan Gutman's "My Weird School" (HarperCollins), and Debbie Dadey's "Bailey School Kids" (Scholastic) series are better selections for kids who enjoy the funny scary genre.-Julie Shatterly, W.A. Bess Elementary School, Gastonia, NC

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