Scary School

Scary School by Derek the Ghost, illustrated by Scott Fischer, 2011. 237 pages. Published by HarperCollins. Source: Author for review.

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!

First Sentence:

It's not often that a new kid arrives at Scary School, but when one does, no one wants to bother learning yet another name, so they just call him or her "new kid." 

Scary School was one of the last books I accepted for review for the year, and I am so glad that I had the chance to read it because it amused me to no end and turned my boring day around. I loved Scary School so much and cannot wait for book two.

One of the things that made Scary School  such a great read was the writing, which pulled me in from the get go, with his humorous characters and writing. I also enjoyed the fact that this book has some incredible artwork featured throughout, and that the main characters and teachers all had their portrait within the book because it helped me get a clearer picture of what they looked like (which was nice because some of them were pretty odd looking).

I thought it was interesting how the story was told from the point-of-view of Derek the school's resident ghost. I liked it because it kept the flow of the story moving because Derek was more of an observer of the goings on at Scary School, plus he knew all the in's and out's of the way things worked there.

As for the characters of Scary School, I thought they were a hoot. Between the musings of Derek, and the near disastrous bumbling of Charles NuKid as he tried to fit into...I mean survive Scary School, as well as the rest of students that ended up playing biggish roles in the book. They will definitely leave one entertained as you watch them try not to be eaten, smashed, or killed the school faculty.

One of my favorite things about this book would have to be the writing, and the way the story and characters suck you in from pretty much the beginning of the book. This is one I would definitely recommend to those looking for a good, clean, and fast read that will completely amuse you and leave you kind of smirking (you may want to refrain from reading it in public).
     Scary School is just one of those books that goes by entirely to quickly for me to be able to pin point something I did not like about it. I read the first half of the book in about forty-five minutes because I was just pulled in from pretty much the first sentence. See, nearly impossible for me to find something I don't like when I practcially inhaled the book.
Final Verdict: Scary School was an absolute hoot and one of my favorites of the year.

Scary School earns 4 out of 5 pineapples.