Joined in 2023 
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It's basically the worst school detention ever. When classmates (but not mate-mates) Hallie, Angelo, Gustav and Naira are forced to come to school on a SATURDAY, they think things can't get much worse. But they're wrong. Things are about to get seriously scary. What has dragged their teacher underground? Why do the creepy caretakers keeping humming the tune to Itsy Bitsy Spider? And what horrors lurk in the shadows, getting stronger and meaner every minute . . .? Cut off from help and in danger each time they touch the ground, the gang's only hope is to work together. But it's no coincidence that they're all there on detention. Someone has been watching and plotting and is out for revenge.... Angelo, Gus, Naira, Hallie and Collette set about to try and find a way to bring the deadly duo down, but once the Latchitts discover they're onto them, Club Loser is in grave danger. They'll stop at nothing until their evil master plan is complete. The gang find themselves in several spine-chilling situations but the chapter in the girls' toilets was so freaky! The fairground bits, and then especially when things went totally over the top wrong. Those had me on the edge of my seat because WOW, chaos and destruction GO. And then there is a ghost train which is also a big nope. Flinch. Well, before it all started to go craycray. That was just great fun and while I did think it was a bit over the top that everyone participated seemingly, I would have expected a few kids to go against the flow as you will often see.
I'm embarrassed to say that I was incredibly well-behaved at school. I don't enjoy being in trouble, or feeling like I'm doing something wrong, so if I'm going to break a rule, it has to be for something I truly believe in. The only time I got in trouble was in A-level history, and that blew up into an enormous drama that resulted in me withdrawing from the class and trying to teach myself the rest of the syllabus. I got a 'B'. And I stand by my actions! Hallie, Gustav, Naira and Angelo don't usually hang out together at school, let alone on a Saturday. But these four teens are on detention together for their behaviour in their school canteen. Before we get to the horror though, the heart of this book is the friendship circle, Club Loser. They've grown since book one, and Colette is now firmly a member of the group, making for some interesting shifts in dynamics but that feeling of companionship, of people who are always there for each other and would do anything for each other is stronger than ever! Clearly almost dying together forged a strong bond! They still have that Breakfast Club vibe of kids of very different types thrown together in detention and finding that they have more in common than differences, but this is used to great effect not only to give each character their own feel but also to highlight some important and oft-ignored issues. But I cannot wait for the next book in the series! So excited to see what is next for this group and what our duo will be up to next~ I am so excited I got to read this during Spooktober! Perfect! Normally when authors use modern slang in their books I am kind of iffy about it because it can take me out of the story but for this book it actually worked in its advantage. Because it a group of preteen kids and that's how they talk. It also wasn't forced in and if flowed well for me.The reason why one of the group wasn’t infected. I am sorry, but in this current age and day I don’t believe that just 1 person in a school of hundreds is vegetarian or vegan . It was just unbelievable and I think I would have rather had an other reason than this. Or have some other peeps visible that are walking around normally. The brand new must-read middle-grade novel from the author of super-spooky Crater Lake. Perfect for 9+ fans of R.L.Stine's Goosebumps. Their teacher Mr Canton doesn't seem angry that his Saturday is taken up with hosting their detention. In fact he's full of positive reinforcement, earning lots of eye rolling from the teens. This book does have a nice dollop of humour and, under it's spidery body, there is a heart and this does touch on dark subject matter such as child poverty, bullying, disability, pressure from parents, and a few others, which shows that our leads aren't bad, but are fleshed out and there are reasons for the way they behave and react.
Money troubles is the most obvious one, and Angelo is still very much representative of those kids in a school who don't have the money for new clothes or shiny gadgets, who have to make do with what they can, who know exactly how much lunch money they can afford to spend and exactly what it will cost them. This is contrasted pretty sharply with Hallie in particular, and I loved the descriptions of her house and how fancy it seemed to the others, with a spare bedroom and artisan crisps! It's done with a light touch and a sensitivity but hopefully it'll help to raise awareness and build empathy among school children reading it.I love the animals (the pigs especially), though we all know what happens to animals in horror, right? At times I just wanted to step into the book and rescue some animals. Just like Hallie wanted to do. If you thought hide and seek could be dull, this book introduces a new version called Flinch that is anything but dull. Everyone is hider and seeker at once, trying to scare others with the creepy addition of the Pop Goes the Weasel song. We open with a tense game of it, and its involvement in the book only gets more sinister as unexplained events happen during it.
Returning to Dread Wood High and being reunited with Angelo and the Club Loser gang felt so good, not to mention the force of nature that is geography teacher Mr Canton. Gus and Mr C are without a doubt my two favourite characters - they are both absolutely hilarious, (if not a little hapless!) Jennifer totally nails the perfect balance of horror and humour and her teen characters are totally on-point. The ending was just a big NOPE-fest, but very awesome! And it definitely opens up A LOT of possibilities for next books. I appreciated that there was more to the characters than at first anticipated. They are so much more than their first takes and as they find a way to work together, all these unexpected qualities shine through. As it turns out, they all have personal struggles and it actually bonds them together as they learn more about each other. There are some pretty serious issues that they are grappling with: bullying, poverty, disability, and living up to parental pressures. It's all handled with grace and a lot of quippy humor. I honestly can see middle-graders, those that read MG aswell as those that don't typically read MG really enjoy this book. When an author can write something that will universally appeal to all age ranges that is a wonderful sign that you are getting a great story. I genuinely believe that if I was in one of these horror-story situations, I would still be joking and laughing. As much as some things can be quite harrowing and upsetting, I need to be able to laugh through it.”Full of wonderful flawed characters that you empathise with and a good dollop of humour. Jen is an incredible storyteller.' - Ness Harbour, author of Flight
It also home to a pair of creepy grounds keepers. Who seem to get more and more sinister as the book progresses. Why do they keep humming the Itsy Bitsy Spider? Have you ever seen the film Eight Legged Freaks? I wouldn’t blame you if you hadn’t. It came out in 2002 and was only okay, but this book is like a small scale version of that. The monsters are dog sized sliders, and they’re pretty cool. The explanation for how they became dog sized is nonsense, but it doesn’t have to be scientifically coherent for it to be cool, and these badboys are cool. Also, apparently Scarlett Johannsson was in Eight Legged Freaks. I suppose not even she is immune to being in a bad film. Dapo Adeola, Tracy Darnton, Joseph Coelho and Chitra Soundar are among the 19 authors and illustrators longlisted for the Inclusive Books for Child...
Synopsis
There is something scary happening under the ground at that school. And if it wasn't for Angelo, Hallie, Gustav and Naira having detention on that Saturday no one would ever know.
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