Customer Reviews

School Spirit (Suddenly Supernatural)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a review from my 8 year-old daughter:

"This story is about a girl named Kat whose mother is a medium. But not the size medium, the supernatural medium, who communicates with spirits. All until Kat finds out she's a medium, too! Now Kat and her best friend Jac have to help a spirit in their school cross over successfully. Will they make it?

One reason I like this book is because it shows a lot of teamwork. There are some big words that older kids would know better than younger kids. This book can be a little creepy, so I recommend it to 9-12 year-olds. I really enjoyed this book and know you will, too!"

So I'm on a plane ride from Seattle to New York and wouldn't you know it but I don't bring enough books to read. Under normal circumstances I have a problem with overstocking my purse with reading material. This time the opposite is true. So I pull out anything I happen to have on hand, and most of it is simply terrible. I'm alternating between bad crazy books and bad depressing books in an effort to simply make the time go faster when I remember that a literary agent I know, who happens to be taking the same flight as me, gave me Suddenly Supernatural not a day before. She had assured me that it was great, which I took with a grain of salt or two. Of course the book's agent is going to think it's the best single thing since sliced bread. No surprises there. But the pickings are slim and my flight has been delayed another hour and a half (thank YOU, Delta). I decide to give the book a go. As a children's librarian I've trained myself to look for certain qualities in my fiction for kids. Is it interesting? Is it good? Does it fall into the usual trips, traps, and snares common to the genre? But to my amazement this book sucks me in instantly. With a rare combination of readability and genuine middle school trials and tribulations, author Elizabeth Cody Kimmel gives a well-placed kick to a genre that deserves a little rejiggering here and a little remastering there. A book I can honestly recommend to any kid looking for some great ghostly fare.

Seventh grader Kat has a situation on her hands. First of all, her mother's a medium. "And I don't mean the kind that fits in between small and large." Rather she's the kind of person who contacts ghosts and spirits for a living. Kat's never really had a problem with this job in the past, though certainly it would be more restful if her mom sought employment in another occupation. No, it's not until Kat realizes that she herself is beginning to see ghosts everywhere that she starts freaking out. It's not as if she's the most popular girl at school to begin with, and now she has to keep from talking or even noticing the dead people floating all around her? Thank you, but no. Fortunately Kat's just made a new friend at school with secrets of her own and the two of them are getting wrapped up in a mystery involving a dead student, a music program, and an old woman who has carried a blanket of shame with her for over forty years. This middle school medium may not want to bring her powers to class, but it's clear that there's a reason they're there, and nothing's going to change that.

There are plenty of books out there that use supernatural metaphors to describe middle school and puberty. Buffy the Vampire Slayer did it on television with vampires. Dusssie by Nancy Springer gave menstruation a medusa-inspired twist. Even Perry Moore's Hero was able to equate superpowers with coming out of the closet. The Suddenly Supernatural books are, in a sense, quieter fare than any of these. Kat hits puberty and suddenly she can see and hear ghosts. And like any teen or tween faced with the unnatural or weird, her instinct is to ignore her powers or do whatever it is that she can to cover them up and seem to be like everyone else. As she herself says, "I'm just not sure how to deal with it. I don't know what's expected of me. I'm in seventh grade, remember. Where you're supposed to spend every waking hour trying to be normal." The narrative is told entirely in the first person and you grow very fond of Kat and her inner struggle. Subplots involving conniving popular girls and the like keep the story moving, but really it's Kat's relationship with her new friend Jac that maintains the reader's interest. When it all comes down to it, I really felt that the book held together well. It certainly works in different plot points and subplots to a satisfying conclusion. Some rote middle school elements are there, sure, but what Kimmel chooses to do with them is solid and original.

At heart, the story has a lot in common with M. Night Shymalan's Sixth Sense. Yet one difference between the two is the fact that Kat's mother is a medium and it's not as if she is without support and help along the way. Again, it's the relationships that really shine through in this tale. Kat's mom is warm and lovely. One of those rare not dead/not villainous mothers you encounter in children's literature once in a bright blue moon. Now with its subtitle firmly in place, I was pretty sure that this book was the first in a series. This feeling was later reinforced when Kat encounters a malevolent force that neither explains itself nor, for that matter, does much of anything except look threatening in the book. Clearly Kimmel has more adventures of her mini medium in store for her fans.

Of course, the book series is going to be hampered if Kimmel continues to include an overabundance of pop culture references like the ones found in this book. About the time I got to the mention of "the latest marriage of Tori Spelling" is started to cringe. A title like this, marketed correctly and creating a strong audience, could easily go through several reprints and reissues as long as it remains timeless. The pop culture tidbits don't really gel with the rest of the book anyway. I don't see Kat as just another consumer, so it feels weird to see mentions of this sort scattered throughout the text (though I'd admit to enjoying one boy's performance of a "monologue" slash vomitfest from the documentary Super Size Me).

I know the audience for this book because I once was the audience. Back in the 80s I was one of those girls that couldn't get enough ghost stories in my diet. I think that I personally sustained the careers of authors like Willo Davis Roberts and Mary Downing Hahn through a steady purchase of Apple paperbacks (via Scholastic book fairs, of course). Often I get girls at my reference desk desperate for a new ghost story. And while Hahn still corners the market on fabulous scare fare, Kimmel is clearly going to carve out a niche for herself. With its sympathetic heroine, great characters, and cool concept, Kimmel takes an idea that could have been very rote and familiar and breathes new life into it. This is ghostly fare for girls who love books like Shug and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. A rare genre to plumb, but a genre just the same.

Dead people are ruining Kat's life.

Seventh grade is hard enough, but when your mom is a medium and calls up spirits that then invade the house, inviting people over and trying to make friends is not easy.

Things get worse when Kat herself starts to see spirits. She doesn't want to be a medium and isn't sure she's cut out for communicating with the dead. Plus, Kat's afraid that her family's dark secret will jeopardize her newfound friendship with Jac, the new girl at school.

When the spirit of former student, Suzanne Bennis, appears to Kat in the school library seeking her help, Kat can't ignore her powers any longer. Will Kat be able to help Suzanne? And will Jac stay with her or think her new friend is crazy?

This was such a fun read! Ghosts and mystery take center stage of the story, but there is also the typical middle school drama of popular crowds and mean girls. The friendship between Kat and Jac is what makes this story. Kat is funny as a reluctant medium and her inner thoughts about life and school made me laugh out loud. Jac is full of spunk and everyone should have a best friend like her.

Perfect for fans wanting a middle school story with a paranormal twist, SCHOOL SPIRIT is the first in the SUDDENLY SUPERNATURAL series.

Reviewed by: Sarah Bean the Green Bean Teen Queen

Seventh grade is hard enough, but when you're already struggling to find your niche in the popular crowd, it certainly doesn't help for the cool kids to find out that your mom is a Medium. But the reality for Kat is that nothing escapes the eyes of Shoshanna, Brooklyn and their omnipresent "Satellite Girls," so she's just about ready to exile herself into the seventh circle of social ineptitude. But then she makes friends with the new "Cello Girl," Jac, so-called for dragging a less-than-trendy instrument through the halls every day. Kat and Jac's blossoming friendship is put to the test when Kat inherits her mother's spirit sight and, in need of someone to confide in who isn't her mother, she tells her best and only friend. Kat has a secret, too, and as these girls battle to find their niche and get past some not-so-average teen issues, they find that together they can help a young ghost who has been trapped in the school for a very long time - and maybe this ghost has something to offer the girls as well. Suddenly Supernatural is a sweet coming-of age tale that, while wrapped in social cliches and soon-to-be passe pop culture references, will surely intrigue plenty of middle school girls. Kat and Jac may lack some of the depth that can be found in other tween favorites, but their cute, spooky story doesn't need much more than these two girls who, ultimately, learn to love themselves for who they are. The book sets up for a sequel, and I am certainly curious as to the hijinx and horror that these girls might get themselves into in future volumes.

There's a lot of middle school/junior high angst out there, and a lot of first person confessionals that try too hard to be funny, bright, and always ready with a quip or a rueful and inappropriately mature insight. Well, here's a book that does it right, and hits all of the notes in a very satisfying way.

Kat is perceptive, and funny, and insightful, but in an age appropriate way. What I mean is that what she thinks is funny or gross is probably what her reader would think is funny or gross. No irony, no winking smirks, no heavyhanded moralizing. The book just feels right.

Part of that may come from the Kat and Jac friendship, which just feels so right and honest that its glow just floats you through some of the bumpier dialogue and clunkier plotting. It also helps that Jac, the friend, has some of the best lines and is given a generous part of the story, so that you really have two protagonists to root for.

Perhaps best of all, (beyond Kat's charming honesty), is Mom. She is introduced as a vague and spacey lost hippie, but as the book develops she turns out to be a wise, perceptive and loving guide for her daughter. In a world where the heroes and heroines are usually orphans, children of divorce, or the children of idiots, this is an almost shocking development. And you know what? Having a strong parent adds a great deal to the story; much more than I would have expected after so many orphaned/abandoned child books I've read.

So, while very mild on the supernatural scale, strong on things like friendship and just growing up. And fun. And a little silly. And entertaining. Well worth a try.

Out of curiosity I picked up this book at my local bookstore and I am glad to say "I Don't regret it". Kat thought her life was hard enough by moving to a new school but with a Medium for a mom doesn't make things any easier. All Kat wants is to fit in (fat chance of that happening) with all the "normal" people at her school. She has a chance to do that when a popular girl comes to her house, but things take a turn for the worst. As Kat develops a friend she also develops something else HER PSYCHIC POWERS and a ghost unwilling to cross over. As the plot deepens and the suspence gets thicker I simply didn't want this book to end.

PROS: Great writing, Nice plot

CONS: first couple of chapters were slow but picked up really fast!

Overall I would definetly recomend this book.

I purchased this first book in the series for my 10 yo daughter on the suggesstion of another 4th grade student. She has already asked if we can buy the next book in the series before she has completed this one. A fun read- though I have asked her to read it at school and not just before bedtime :)

The strength of this book is the two extremely appealing main characters (girls, naturally), and their efforts to help each other. It doesn't hurt that the book is very funny and well written, too.

As a mother and a former middle school teacher, I highly recommend this book. It is written at an upper 7th grade level. The plot is logical while being interesting and surprising. The characters are fully formed. The vocabulary is challenging without being frustrating. Many of the "big" words are SAT standards. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book with my 9 year old, have bought copies of the others in the series, and will give copies as holiday gifts to several of my students.
In short, it is a good book!

Kat just wants to be normal, to fit in, but this is very difficult if your mother is a medium-and you have started seeing ghost yourself. Ever since Kat turned thirteen, ghosts have been appearing unexpectedly, and strange things have been happening around her. Kat has tried to ignore the problem by refusing to let the ghosts know she sees them-but the problem appears to be escalating. Now she is even seeing at least one ghost at school, and this one seems determined to get her attention. It isn't that Kat wants to be mean and refuse to help the ghost, but she doesn't want anyone to think she is weird, so she can't acknowledge her.

Author Kimmel has done a brilliant job of illustrating the trials and tribulations of a young teen girl's life in middle school while she comes to terms with the fact that she is not an average teen. Neither Kat nor her best friend Jac are average-both are very gifted, each with their own unique talent. But being gifted means "different," and for Kat that is like "the kiss of death." She'd rather go unnoticed than to be singled out.

Unfortunately, ghosts don't care about Kat's problems, they just want their problems solved and mediums are the only people who can help them. It has always appeared to Kat that her mother must be a very generous, caring person to put up with being a medium. It isn't so much the ghost that Kat objects to, it is that people ask for her mother's help but them ignore her in public because they are not willing to acknowledge that they know the weird medium lady. Kat is resentful of this kind of treatment and is determined to be normal so she isn't treated that way.

I found this story very cute and charming. A sequel is planned to - Suddenly Supernatural - School Spirit, and I am looking forward to reading about more adventures of Kat, middle school life, and the ghosts.

Armchair Interviews says: Nice addition to any Young Adult library.