Human Body

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Sent to Groosham Grange by his parents, David Eliot quickly discovers that his new school is a very odd place indeed. New pupils are made to sign their names in blood; the French teacher disappears every full moon; and the assistant headmaster keeps something very chilling in his room.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

School Library Journal Review

Gr 4-6-This dark, sinister tale, which reads like a cross between Lemony Snicket's books (HarperCollins) and R. L. Stine's "Goosebumps" series (Scholastic), involves maniacal parents, supernatural monsters, and some difficult choices for its characters. David Eliot's parents make the Dursleys from "Harry Potter" seem like a loving family. Not only are they mentally abusive, but they are also horrifyingly physically abusive (Mr. Eliot throws a knife at David and is nonplussed when it ends up in his wife's chest instead). After David is expelled from school, a mysterious letter arrives, offering him a place at a boarding school located on its own island off Norfolk, England. On the train trip to Groosham Grange, David meets a boy and girl who have also been sent away for not measuring up to standards. Once they arrive, they discover strange, otherworldly teachers and students who behave in a secretive manner, rising from their beds at midnight and disappearing without a trace. David and his friends must discover the secret of Groosham Grange before their 13th birthdays, when they will be forced to make a difficult decision that will change their lives forever. Though the author portrays punishments and moments of cruelty as absurd and unrealistic, these instances may disturb some readers. Still, the mysteries, elements of witchcraft and the supernatural, and occasional instances of humor may appeal to fans of (mostly) bloodless horror.-Debra Banna, Sharon Public Library, MA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Booklist Review

Horowitz takes a step away from his Alex Rider series to fashion a funny little spot of horror for a younger set of readers in this riff on the classic boarding-school tale. After David Elliot is expelled from a private school, he is invited to enroll in a mysterious boarding school called Groosham Grange. The school, a sort of bizarro Hogwarts, has a faculty of vampires, ghouls, and worse, and all the students have phony names, sport matching black-stone rings, and don't seem to mind being taught by monsters. For the most part, David's subsequent adventures and attempts to escape the school are more zany than scary, but there's still plenty of yikes moments and eerie passages peppered among the silliness. The cartoonishly evil folks at Groosham make a fine point that as bad as they may seem, they've never dropped an atomic bomb on anyone, and are just the sort of rather pleasantly evil characters ideal to give kids a few goose bumps in between snickers.--Chipman, Ian Copyright 2008 Booklist

Kirkus Book Review

Twelve-year-old David has exasperated his parents with his underachieving ways for the last time. As a lucky coincidence, they receive a letter inviting David to attend Groosham Grange just as he is expelled from another school. They're thrilled, especially since Groosham touts its reputation for straightening out malcontents like David. He and two others he meets on the train there are immediately suspicious of it, however. The school's pupils are eerily, vacantly adoring of the sinister old building and its creepy staff. The mystery deepens one night when David awakens to see them all trooping off into the library, where they vanish. Bursts of dark slapstick humor (such as David's dad accidentally stabbing his mom in the opening chapter) mix oddly with its light horror plot, and unsubtle foreshadowing stunts the suspense. Fans of Horowitz will form a natural readership for what looks to be the first in a new series, but whether they will find this as satisfying as his more carefully developed works is questionable. (Horror. 9-12) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.