Sheep Review: Scary School by Derek the Ghost

Scary School by Derek the Ghost (AKA Derek Taylor Kent), Illustrated by Scott M. Fischer

Hardcover, 237 pages

Published June 21st 2011 by HarperCollins

ages: 8 and up

You think your school's scary?

Get a load of these teachers:

Ms. Fang, an 850-year-old vampire
Dr. Dragonbreath, who just might eat you before recess
Mr. Snakeskin—science class is so much more fun when it's taught by someone who's half zombie
Mrs. T—break the rules and spend your detention with a hungry Tyrannosaurus rex!

Plus Gargoyles, goblins, and Frankenstein's monster on the loose The world's most frighteningly delicious school lunch. And The narrator's an eleven-year-old ghost!

Join Charles "New Kid" Nukid as he makes some very Scary friends—including Petunia, Johnny, and Peter the Wolf—and figures out that Scary School can be just as funny as it is spooky!

Scary School is narrated by Derek the Ghost. He died in a horrible accident in science class, but that's okay, stuff like that happens all the time at Scary School. He came back as a ghost and has decided to write all about the students and teachers. This year is especially exciting because Scary School got selected to host the Ghoul Games this year and Principal Headcrusher has to get her students ready for the competition. Because this year the winners get to eat the losers!!

This was a silly fun read. Each chapter introduces us to one of the teachers or students at this unusual school. There is also a small mystery throughout the book that must be solved. Someone is trying to make sure Scary School loses because they don’t like the fact that it allows human children to attend. There are plenty of black and white drawings depicting each character. Of course, being an adult, I wasn’t sure if this would be a hit with its intended Middle Grade audience. But guess what? I have a 10 year old. So I asked her to read it and then asked her what she thought about the book.

Sharon: What do you think of the cover?

Holly: I love it, the zombie on the cover made me want to read it.

Sharon: Did you like the art work?

Holly: Yeah, it helped me see how the characters look and it was pretty wacky.

Sharon: Did you have a favorite part?

Holly: I would say Petunia’s problem was my favorite chapter.

Sharon: Would you recommend this book to your friends?

Holly: Of course! I am going to donate it to my school library.

Sharon: Was this book funny?

Holly: No, hilarious! I had to hold my mouth to keep from laughing in school while I was reading. My favorite character was Ramon the Zombie.

So there you have it, straight from a 5^th grader’s mouth. It was literally a LOL read. Holly says this book deserves 5 Sheep!

Have your kids check out the Scary School Website for lots of interactive fun!

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Scary School #2: Monster on the March comes out June 26, 2012