And this time out we're in ghosty/horror territory. I think that's exactly what you get here. Overall, this is forgettable - probably fun for middle grader readers who are in to ghost stories, but not a stand-out.Īvi's particular appeal to me is that he often manages to produce books that have sophisticated and mature content, but still work well for his middle grade audience. The pacing's weak the final scenes have lots of action and should be climactic, but long descriptions break up the action, and again, the narration didn't help. I'm so over that trope, and it's lazy storytelling to use it. There are two female characters Tony's age - one, who clearly has to crush on him, is a damsel in distress, and the other, who's repeatedly described as pretty and looking older than her age, ends up being a very, very old woman in disguise who feeds on the souls of young people to stay alive. So many sentences that start with adverb phrases! There are also some strange details: Tony doesn't know who's calling him on his cell phone? How is that possible in 2016? My biggest issue, though, is the treatment of Tony's female classmates.
I think it's partially a case of the audio highlighting problems with the text, including some repetitive writing. Could that somehow be related to Uncle Charlie’s ghost? On top of that, rumors have been circulating about a student who went missing shortly before Tony arrived. The Penda School is eerie enough without his uncle’s ghost making it worse.
Then he starts seeing Uncle Charlie everywhere ! It doesn’t help that Tony switched schools-it was Uncle Charlie’s dying wish that Tony attend the Penda School, where Uncle Charlie himself went as a kid. When Uncle Charlie dies suddenly, Tony is devastated. Uncle Charlie is still odd, of course-talking about spirits and other supernatural stuff-but he and Tony become fast friends, and Tony ends up having a lot of fun with Uncle Charlie. Full of twists and turns that get spookier by the chapter, School of the Dead is a fast-paced mystery that Avi’s fans will devour! For most of Tony Gilbert’s life, he has thought of his uncle as “Weird Uncle Charlie.” That is, until Uncle Charlie moves in with Tony and his family.
In this spine-tingling story from Newbery Medal winner Avi, a boy must solve the mystery of the ghost haunting him.
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