Kent, Derek Taylor. Scary School.Review copy provided by the author.
Charles Nukid is in for a big surprise when he starts the school year at Scary School. He is almost eaten by a monster that lives in the moat, a T. Rex in a blue dress admonishes him for not wearing the school uniform when he is the only one who is, and his teachers are all monsters of various sorts who don't mind killing a student or two. It's okay, though-- dead students come back as vampires, zombies or even dragons! The school year progresses with a variety of activities (goblins give a play on Halloween), and a parade of quirky students while the school prepares to compete in the Ghoul Games against schools with an even more monstrous student body.
Strengths: Skateboarding zombie on the cover. Can't go wrong with that. The illustrations throughout add a lot to the story, which is reminscent of the Dadey and Jones Bailey School Kids books. This is a longer book, though, which will attract better readers and some older students.
Weaknesses: A tiny bit on the younger side, with some quirky writing that bothers me but the students don't mind. (A character named Frank-pronounced-Rachel, strange names for the characters, a Lemony Snicketesque tone... none of my personal favorites!)
I got an unsolicited copy of this a while back, and never got to it. Then the author contacted me as well and reminded me about it. Still haven't gotten to it, but I happen to LOVE quirky, so maybe I'll check it out.
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