Abstract
Reviewed by: Strangeville School Is Totally Normal by Darcy Miller Quinita Balderson Miller, Darcy Strangeville School Is Totally Normal; illus. by Brett Helquist. Random House, 2021 [256p] Library ed. ISBN 9780593309612 $19.99 Trade ed. ISBN 9780593309506 $16.99 E-book ed. ISBN 9780593309629 $9.99 Reviewed from digital galleys R Gr. 3-6 Harvey Hill desperately wanted his new school be a better fit than the last, but that hope was dashed when he arrived at Strangeville and realized it was… well, strange. The oddities are unavoidable with a piranha-infested water supply, a mutant rat named Cuddles whose growth potential remains unknown since ingesting an experimental growth serum, and a Vice Principal warning the students not to anger the supply closet because it's "always watching." (Nothing to see here folks. Just your run of the mill sentient supply closet.) More alarming is the fact that people have been mysteriously disappearing from this place, and now Harvey's new friend Stella intends to uncover the school's dark secret. Miller's wackiness meter is off the charts with this hilarious, over-the-top comedy that will elicit chuckles and thrills. Beyond that, there is a meaningful message that the main character discovers: he does have something special about him that could be considered weird but so what? Readers looking for a kooky kind of scary but who are not quite ready for Lang and Bartkowski's chilling Whispering Pines (BCCB 9/20) will happily want to go back to school here. [End Page 160] Copyright © 2021 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois
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