Fun, not-too-scary school-themed spooks.
Weird is the norm in this school.
Gray-haired custodian Gertie guides readers through the cafetorium of Newville Elementary (home of the Flying Pickles!). A cafetorium can be anything you need it to be—a cafeteria, an auditorium, a gym, or maybe even an interdimensional portal. No matter what, though, odd, downright eerie stuff happens there—and also sometimes things that are just superannoying. Even the staff are weird; one never stops talking, and the other never says anything (some people believe they’re a robot). Six tales by different authors comprise this animated collection, each featuring a different protagonist but connected through recurring characters. The stories include a doppelgänger made of Jell-O, an earworm that continually plays in everyone’s heads, a sinister balloon in search of hot air, a basketball that won’t bounce, a book full of excuses (that come with a price), and a spotlight that focuses on the one person who most wants to avoid it. While the characters may be rolling their eyes or quaking in nervous fear, readers are more likely to have fits of giggles. A few loose ends are not resolved but add to the general atmosphere. Jung’s fun and kooky full-color illustrations add to the Saturday-morning–cartoon feel of the collection and include visual jokes for readers to enjoy. The illustrations depict characters with a range of skin tones.
Fun, not-too-scary school-themed spooks. (cast of characters, recipe) (Fiction. 7-10)Pub Date: Sept. 14, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5248-6880-2
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
Review Posted Online: July 7, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2021
Aimed straight at proto-Goosebumps fans, this formulaic series opener pits two 9-year-olds against a great white shark with legs. Having lost his bike in a lake thanks to the latest hare-brained scheme of his impulsive cousin Henry, bookish Keats reluctantly agrees to finance a replacement by earning some money taking on odd jobs at a spooky local mansion. The prosaic task of weeding the garden quickly turns into an extended flight through a series of magical rooms after a shark monster rises out of the ground and gives chase. Dashing from one narrow squeak to the next, the lads encounter a kitchen with an invisible "sink," a giant vomiting bookworm in the library, a carpet pattern in the hall that (literally) bites and, most usefully, a magic wand that they get to keep (setting up future episodes) after spelling the monster away. Tilted points of view give the occasional illustrations more energy than the labored plot ever musters, and the characters rarely show even two dimensions. Fledgling readers will do better in the hands of Jim Benton’s Franny K. Stein series or Bruce and Katherine Coville’s Moongobble and Me books. (Horror. 8-10)
Pub Date: April 26, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-375-86675-3
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: April 5, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2011
Lighthearted spook with a heaping side of silliness—and hair.
Fifth graders get into a hairy situation.
After an unnamed narrator’s full-page warning, readers dive right into a Wolver Hollow classroom. Mr. Noffler recounts the town legend about how, every Oct. 19, residents don fake mustaches and lock their doors. As the story goes, the late Bockius Beauregard was vaporized in an “unfortunate black powder incident,” but, somehow, his “magnificent mustache” survived to haunt the town. Once a year, the spectral ’stache searches for an exposed upper lip to rest upon. Is it real or superstition? Students Parker and Lucas—sole members of the Midnight Owl Detective Agency—decide to take the case and solve the mustache mystery. When they find that the book of legends they need for their research has been checked out from the library, they recruit the borrower: goth classmate Samantha von Oppelstein. Will the three of them be enough to take on the mustache and resolve its ghostly, unfinished business? Whether through ridiculous plot points or over-the-top descriptions, the comedy keeps coming in this first title in McGee’s new Night Frights series. A generous font and spacing make this quick-paced, 13-chapter story appealing to newly confident readers. Skaffa’s grayscale cartoon spot (and occasional full-page) illustrations help set the tone and accentuate the action. Though neither race or skin color is described in the text, images show Lucas and Samantha as light-skinned and Parker as dark-skinned.
Lighthearted spook with a heaping side of silliness—and hair. (maps) (Fiction. 7-10)Pub Date: Aug. 31, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5344-8089-6
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2021
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