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    Scary School
    Scary School
    Scary School
    Ebook209 pages2 hours

    Scary School

    By Derek the Ghost and Scott M. Fischer

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    You think your school's scary?

    Get a load of these teachers:

    Ms. Fang, an 850-year-old vampire
    Dr. Dragonbreath, who just might eat you before recess
    Mr. Snakeskin—science class is so much more fun when it's taught by someone who's half zombie
    Mrs. T—break the rules and spend your detention with a hungry Tyrannosaurus rex!

    Plus

    Gargoyles, goblins, and Frankenstein's monster on the loose
    The world's most frighteningly delicious school lunch

    And

    The narrator's an eleven-year-old ghost!

    Join Charles "New Kid" Nukid as he makes some very Scary friends—including Petunia, Johnny, and Peter the Wolf—and figures out that Scary School can be just as funny as it is spooky!

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateJun 21, 2011
    ISBN9780062084552
    Author

    Derek the Ghost

    Derek the Ghost is an eleven-year-old ghost who haunts the classrooms and hallways of Scary School writing down all the spine-tingling, often hilarious things that go on there. He is the author of Scary School and Scary School #2: Monsters on the March. Despite his ghostly state, Derek still enjoys reading comic books and hopes to one day become a master ninja. If that doesn't work out, he will continue to share the fun of this very special, very secret school, so all kids can experience the scariest school on earth.

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    Reviews for Scary School

    4/5

    47 ratings16 reviews

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    • 4/5
      If you like funny books with unique characters then you will be enchanted by Scary School by Derek the Ghost. Derek is a character that I could easily relate to because he is nice and does like to help other people. Plus he is witty and tells the story with such honesty. The school is definitely dangerous, but even with all of the deaths it wasn’t very gruesome. I thought the names of the teachers in the book were very creative. There were also drawings to go with each chapter, which added a lot to the book. It was fun to see if the monsters looked like what I imagined them to look like. As this is the first one in a series and I am definitely looking forward to reading the next book which is already out. This is a great book for people ages 8 and up. It is a perfect book to read during the spooky months of October and November, but it can be enjoyed at any time of year. Not only will you laugh out loud, but you will learn a few lessons from Derek the Ghost along the way, too.
    • 5/5
      Now you might be thinking that a book for Middle Grade isn't for you. That you're too old to enjoy a book entitled Scary School. That, my friends, is where you'd be wrong. I have no qualms at all with telling you straight out that I adored this book! Yes, I'm in my late twenties. You know what though? Derek the Ghost is one heck of a narrator, and the stories in this book are pure awesome. Fan girl ramblings shall now ensue. You've been warned.

      From page one Scary School is pure madness in the best way possible! If you've ever been to Wayside School, you'll know that sometimes the sheer ridiculousness of the stories is what really the draw. I found myself giggling through chapter after chapter of hilarious happenings. The teachers here won't just discipline you, they might actually eat you! Never fear though, you'll probably come back as a zombie, or a vampire, or you know, something else. Your best friend might be named Frank (pronounced Rachel) and you might even get in trouble for reading something you shouldn't have. In a word, being a student at Scary School is, well, scary!

      The characters here are all vivid and so much fun. Scott M. Fischer's illustrations really bring them to life, and I found myself laughing out loud over the pictures more than once. After all, who doesn't love a T-rex in a dress? Lest you think that this is all just silliness though, I can assure you that there are actually very important lessons hidden in all the fun. Charles and his friends teach readers to be kind, to listen carefully, to be good friends, and even not to judge people for what they look like. Lessons and laughs? How can you go wrong?

      If you have a reluctant reader at home, this is a book to put into their hands. The stories will make them laugh, the illustrations will delight them, and I'll guarantee that you won't be able to get them to stop talking about how funny it all is. I will happily admit that I'm a fan. Derek, you have me on board. I'm ready for more!
    • 4/5
      For me Scary School was a meeting and meshing of Harry Potter, Diary of a Wimpy Kid and The Black Lagoon series. This sort of meshing leads to a witty and interesting read. With each chapter the reader is introduced to all sorts of scary yet very funny creatures and I can promise that you will think about them afterwards. The book is full of really awesome illustrations so that the reader doesn’t just have to imagine what each character really looks like, they can see for themselves. I think my favorite character was Jason, the kid who always wears a hockey mask and has the hots for Ms. Fang. I’m assuming this is a shout out to another Jason we all know, so it is funny to see him in a different light.

      I thought the writing was really fun to read. It was more conversational and quirky than anything else. My favorite line is the following: “If you can remember more than fifty names, that means you have a superbrain and there’s no excuses for not getting straight As” (2). Looks like I have no excuse.

      Overall, this was a little bit hard for me to get through, mainly because I am really not the intended audience. I really think the audience that would most enjoy the tale of Scary School would be boys between the ages of eight-twelve.
    • 4/5
      A fun quirky read. Really enjoyed it.
    • 4/5
      What a cute book! I am so glad that I finally got to read it. This book is not something I normally read but I wanted something funny and easy to read. And this book did the trick.Scary School! Everything a new kid goes through school except a little different. There are many funny moments in the book that make me snicker and snort. The plot line itself is simple yet engaging. A new kid coming in, facing new school blues, adjusting to new teachers, and new students.The illustrations in the book goes along nicely with each new chapter. I loved that each illustration depicts a nerdy student or a crazy fang teacher! LOL! With each new chapter, the reader meets a new character that only add more my imagination.Scary School is a great book for kids. Filled with funny characters and amazing drawings, it's enough to capture any kids mind. Scary school is awesome!
    • 5/5
      Scary School would be the perfect book to read aloud to the class at the beginning of the new school year. As a teacher I’m always looking for that book that will hook my reluctant readers. This is that book. Imagine a school where monsters and humans go to school together. Imagine that all of your teachers are monsters. Hey, the students already think teachers are monsters for giving homework so this isn’t a far stretch of the imagination. Imagine you are on a tour of the school with your tour guide Derick the Ghost. He had died the previous year in a terrible accident at the school. The new kid, Charles Nukid thinks everyone is real friendly when they holler, “Hey new kid”. The teachers and other members of the school are wonderful to read about. I laughed and laughed when I read about Nurse Hairymoles. She can cure whatever ails you. However, she makes sure you get something that is even worse.The Ghoul Games were cool. We are always talking about starting our school year by building community with our students so they learn up front to get along. This book is a subtle way to teach students life lessons such as; no one is better than anyone else just because they are different. Will I recommend this book to my student? You bet I will. Currently I have an electronic version. However, I will be purchasing a copy for my shelves along with a copy of the sequel “Monsters on the March”. The illustrations by Scott M. Fischer are absolutely wonderful. Check out the book and then purchase the second one, to be released March 26. This is a definite must read. It is a book both young and old will enjoy.
    • 3/5
      The Good: What a great book for Middle Graders!! If I had a kid in Middle School, this would surely be a book I would buy for them. It’s fun, creative and written at the perfect level for those kids who span several different levels of reading. I thought the illustrations were super cute and added so much to the book. I love that the author maintained the whole “Derek the Ghost” mentality throughout the book and I thought the creativeness of the crazy teachers and students was awesome! I thought the tongue-in-cheek humor is great in the way that some of the kid’s movies today are “made” for kids but there is some humor that the adults pick up on. It’s funny for the kids but kind of funnier for the adults because we pick up on the things the kids don’t.The Bad: This is not particulary bad about the book, author or writing but mostly about the genre itself. While I enjoyed this novel, I found it hard to enjoy it in the way that I really enjoy YA or other types of fictions. I think it’s a superficial kind of enjoyment in the same way that I could sit down and watch Blue’s Clues with a child and enjoy it on the surface but I’m not TRULY getting any personal fulfillment or enjoyment from it. I think that’s the problem with someone my age reading a lower middle grade type of book. But that is really not the fault of the author or book. Overall, I think for the younger crowd, this book is awesome and should be the hit of any middle grade classroom. B+*I was provided a free copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review, all opinions are my own.
    • 5/5
      Would you want to go to a school with all these crazy creatures, or where you could get your hand bit off just for sitting it down in the wrong place?Well that is what our main character in this spooky and funny book had to do. As soon as I got this book, I knew I had to read it ASAP! The cover drew me right into the world where such a school could exist. I adored all the cast of crazy characters. There are so many of them, but my favorite would have to defiantly have to be Penny. She is amazing at playing dead!I haven't laughed so hard at a book in a long time and I loved reading every word of it. Scary School is perfectly written and I would have begged for a book like this when I was a kid. Its one of those books you have to read to believe and also one you will never forget once you've read it!
    • 4/5
      All middle grade readers will definitely love this new series! Such a fun and quirky book that starts with us meeting our narrator, Derek the Ghost.We get to know a little about Derek and how/why he is a ghost... and then he introduces us to what we will find and who we will meet at Scary School.In my opinion, this book was more of an introduction to the series than actual story telling. Every chapter is dedicated to a different teacher or student, giving us their story and background - if it wasn't for the fact that Derek the Ghost reminds you of the underlying story that he's trying to tell you, it felt like I was reading a bunch of short stories. Because of this, it was a bit hard to get into at first, but with the help of the illustrations at the beginning of each chapter, it started to flow easily and was a lot of fun.My 8yo son is now reading it - and he is enjoying it more than I thought he would! We have already talked about a few of the characters and side stories and have learned..."Don't judge a monster by the way he/she looks, looks can be deceiving!""Always follow the rules! They're made for a reason!"And here is some exciting news! Derek the Ghost is hard at work and writing up a storm!The next book will also be released as a hardcover on June 26th, 2012... Scary School #2: Monsters on the MarchThere is no official blurbs/quotes for it yet. But I'm pretty confident that it is going to be a good, laugh-out-loud story for the kiddos :) Keep an eye out for it!
    • 5/5
      Okay...Before I go into the whole review thing, I have to point out that this book was the trippiest book that I have ever read. Like, it was so weird (can't think of a better word). However, the idea that this book was so weird made me like it even more. Scratch that...This is what me love the book even more.I liked how you got to learn something about each of the teachers and students within a different chapter and each chapter continued flowing to keep me as the reader interested in every word that I was reading. Along with the idea that the school wasn't only monster children but also human children as well. The way they got along with each other was fascinating.I had to admit the monster math lesson I have to agree with is my favorite chapter of all time. I would have been in trouble because knowing my personality, I have to make sure that it would be correct. However, to make sure nothing happened to me, I would agree.This book was the funnest book I have had the pleasure reading and it was amazing how this book brought a different perspective of reading to me as a reader and blogger. I greatly advise all readers, bloggers, or whatever you may be to check this book out because you won't be disappointed one bit.I give this book 5 souls!
    • 5/5
      Scary School by Derek The Ghost is a wonderfully spooktacular book about middle grade students who attend an unusual school run by the things that go bump in the night. Not all the students are human themselves, some are very extraordinary. The school is run by Principal Headcrusher whose dream is to unite regular students with scary students. Derek The Ghost is the tour guide or narrator for this novel. He gives an up close and personal tour of not only the grounds at scary school but also the student body and faculty. Through this tour Derek gives the inside scoop and behind the scenes information that you'll need to know to survive Scary School. Scary School is an attention grabber right from the beginning. The author mixes humor, wit and a lot of imagination to make this book a great read. This book has every kind of supernatural creature you can think of and even some you can't. Scott Fischer's illustrations really help bring the characters to life. Scary School will appeal to both girls and boys alike as well as kids of all ages. This book is highly entertaining. Another think that impressed me is the interactive website that goes along with this book. It has quizzes, take a tour of Scary School, games and even the theme song to Scary School. I asked my children to read this book with me because it's a book geared towards ages 8-12 and my children fall right into that age group. My kids have different interests so I was so thrilled that it appealed to both of them. They had a lot of fun reading this book. They really liked the teachers as well as the students. My son really liked Dr. Dragonbreath and his rules. My daughter likes Petunia and Lindsey. They both thought it was a funny book and had a great time reading it. I asked if they would like to continue reading the series and they both enthusiastically responded with a yes. The second book, Scary School #2: Monsters on the March is scheduled to come out in June 2012.
    • 4/5
      This is a place straight out of a the imagination of a child. I could visually see them sitting at a desk thinking and seeing the teachers and some of the students as monsters. At scary school you have very likely chance to be eaten by your teachers but not die....No, you will return as a vampire, zombie or even better a fire-breathing dragon. Who wouldn't love that! Some adults may find some humor in the antics or think they are just silly, but the intended age group will love it. The good about this book is that throughout each chapter there is lesson about character, such as the little girl who felt she was too pretty to play with anyone ugly only to realize that you can't judge by one's appearance. When you do read this, there is a blood transfusion scene that I thought was just plain craziness but in retrospect I guess is sorta funny. The only bad thing about the book, and this is just my personal thing is I didn't like being told about something only to not be told about it. Well, in several parts of the book the author mentions something only to say it will be discussed later or in the next book. However, for a child this is minor thing and I think they will love the book as well as the illustrations, which are fantastic. This will be a great read for the reluctant reader and most especially boys.
    • 5/5
      I received this book from Derek for a review. He wanted the review of both a mother and son (11 year old) Well, we are both in agreement. This book is a winner! This book is just plain laugh out loud funny! There is something on each page to make you chuckle. Derek the Ghost tells about life at Scary School, a place that would be home to any kind of ghoul alive (or dead!) I can't say enough good things about this book. Both my 11 year old and I read this in a day. We were both chuckling and laughing. Derek, you've got a winner on your hands. Even though you are a ghost- keep writing!! I long to hear more stories about your amazing school. A+++ for kids and adults alike.I forgot to mention, the illustrations are incredible.
    • 5/5
      Scary School by Derek The Ghost, author Derek Taylor Kent and Illustrated by Scott M. Fisher, is the story of a year in a truly unusual school. I know of no other school that has a moat and a drawbridge. It is a place where a T. rex who wears a blue dress is both the librarian and detention room monitor. Another staff member, Mr Turtlesnaps claims to have been a friend of Darwin as well as being the recipient of his books. The book is narrated by Derek. an eleven year old ghost who is unable to leave the school. He is an aspiring writer who becomes just that-a ghost writer. He chronicles the events of the school year which comes to close with a very bizarre competition called Ghoul Games. Losing at any of the games can lead to dire consequences. There is more to the book than all the weird happenings. The story clearly shows the value of friendship, loyalty and honesty. The characters are perfectly developed. The illustrations are excellent. I highly recommend this book for children from age 8 to 12 and for adults, as well. Reading this book is a pleasure and enjoyable.I received this book at no charge from Goodreads.
    • 4/5
      My thoughts:Original, witty, clever, creative, silly, and a little twisted - all wrapped up in a great little story about what it means to be friends. It's filled with scary monsters, crazy humans, terrifying teachers, a bunch of dead kids and a load of life lessons. The kids will be laughing from the very start.I enjoyed the story. It's a bit silly for the adult in me, a bit twisted for the parent in me, and wonderful for the kid in me. I am sure that this book will be a huge hit with middle schoolers all over! The illustrations are fantastic. The characters are wonderful. The writing is vividly descriptive and oh so clever. If you enjoy a play on words - this is for you. I think it would make for a fun read-aloud and you could use it for a number of different lessons from character building to history and science (never math - you'll understand when you read it). I love that you can read a secret chapter if you pass Ms. Fang's on-line quiz. This is the first in what will be a series by Derek the Ghost. Don't miss it!
    • 5/5
      Welcome to Scary School - a school where just making through lunch with all your limbs is considered a good day. The author, an 11-year-old ghost named Derek the Ghost, invites you to join Charles "New Kid" Nukid and his friends as they try to make it through the days with vampire teachers, dinosaur librarians, and zombie classmates. Think the principal will save you? Her name is Principal Headcrusher, so don't even think about it. Things become extra scary when Scary School is chosen to host the annual Ghoul Games, a junior olympics events between all the "scary" schools of the world. But with humans in the mix for the first time, the rules change so that the winners get eat the losers alive. The human kids of Scary School don't stand a chance against their bigger, stronger monster opponents and it could spell the end of Scary School forever!

    Book preview

    Scary School - Derek the Ghost

    Chapter One

    Charles, the New Kid

    It’s not often that a new kid arrives at Scary School, but when one does, no one wants to bother learning yet another name, so they just call him or her new kid.

    Everyone knows that the human brain can only hold so many names. About fifty is all there’s room for. So every time you meet someone and learn a new name, someone else’s name gets pushed out to make room for the new one. Whenever you see someone you haven’t seen in a long time and you can’t remember their name, that’s what happened.

    If you can remember more than fifty names, that means you have a superbrain and there’s no excuse for not getting straight As.

    Charles, a new kid, stood outside on the front lawn of Scary School. It looks like a perfectly normal school to me, he thought to himself. Nicely painted brown and yellow, two stories tall, a waving flag . . . nothing seems scary about this place at all.

    They say not to judge a book by its cover. Charles shouldn’t have judged Scary School by its exterior.

    As Charles walked toward the front entrance of the school, he couldn’t have been happier. He had heard Scary School was the hardest school in the world, and he liked a challenge. Charles didn’t usually have a whole lot to be happy about. He was so skinny, the kids at his last school called him Toothpick. That was because his arms looked like two toothpicks and his legs looked like two toothpicks. Then, those four toothpicks were attached to a fifth toothpick called his body.

    To make matters worse, his head was large and egg-shaped. Nobody understood how his toothpick of a neck managed to hold it upright. Imagine trying to balance an egg on its narrow end—it should have just plopped over and cracked open.

    At the school’s front entrance, Charles came to a large, dark moat separating the school from the vast front lawn. There didn’t seem to be any way across the moat, and since Charles had arrived more than a half hour early, there weren’t any other kids around to show him how to get into the school.

    Am I supposed to swim across? Charles thought to himself, scratching the shell of his perfectly combed hair, that didn’t have a single strand out of place. He looked at his watch. 7:29 a.m. He was determined to be the first student to enter the school and made a hasty decision he would very soon regret.

    Charles dipped his toe into the moat and a giant, slimy tentacle shot out of the murky water and wrapped itself around Charles’s leg. The tentacle began pulling him into the moat. Charles grabbed on to the grassy edge of the moat with all his strength.

    Unfortunately, Charles was the furthest thing from strong and he was quickly yanked off the ground, flipped into the air, and deftly caught by another tentacle high above the water.

    A towering pink figure that had a giant eye at least ten feet across rose from the moat.

    Oh my gosh! screamed Charles. "An Architeuthis!"

    Charles knew the scientific name for giant squid because nature programs were the only television programs his zoologist parents let him watch.

    The giant squid squinted at Charles, squeezing him in his giant tentacle, licking his giant beak.

    You are going to taste sooo good, said the creature, drooling. I am so sick of eating crab.

    Then there was a loud roar, but not from the squid. A twenty-foot Tyrannosaurus rex wearing a blue dress and a blue bonnet stomped toward the moat.

    Archie! It’s seven thirty, roared the dinosaur. Scary School is now open.

    Uh-oh, said Archie the giant squid, and a great drawbridge dropped down from the front wall and clonked Archie right on his giant pink head.

    The impact knocked Charles loose from the squid’s grip, and he flew through the air, landing on the snout of the Tyrannosaurus rex in a blue dress.

    It seemed Charles was out of the frying pan and into the fire. Are you going to eat me? he nervously asked the T. rex.

    Luckily for you I already had breakfast, said the T. rex, in a nice old lady’s voice. And from the looks of you, you’re going to have to keep getting lucky to survive here.

    I don’t believe in luck, said Charles.

    The T. rex lowered Charles to the ground and Charles quickly put every strand of hair back into place that had gone awry. Then a wave of students (that seemed to arrive out of nowhere) rushed past him and filled the entry hall of Scary School.

    Move along, said the T. rex in a blue dress. If you’re late you’ll end up in my detention room, and I might get hungry again.

    The locker hallway looked like a twisted, spooky maze with high rows of lockers that arched menacingly over the students below. Crevices, secret passageways, and trapdoors made navigating the hallway a particularly difficult task, but Charles followed a map that had been mailed to him in advance. He didn’t know it, but he barely avoided getting eaten by Locker 39, the meanest locker of them all. There will be much more about Locker 39 in the next book.

    As Charles walked down the hall, everyone was saying, Hey, new kid, Hey, new kid, Hey, new kid, and he thought they were all being very friendly and calling him by his name, which happened to be Charles Nukid. He didn’t realize that all the kids were making fun of him and not being friendly at all.

    The reason everyone knew Charles Nukid was a new kid was because he wasn’t wearing the school uniform—or rather, he was wearing the school uniform.

    Scary School has a very strict uniform policy that states, The school uniform must be worn by all students at all times. The uniform consists of gray shorts, a white dress shirt, and a polka-dot tie.

    The problem was, whenever a kid put on the uniform and looked in the mirror, they immediately saw how stupid they looked and refused to wear it. Every kid just went to school wearing whatever they wanted, but never wore gray shorts, a white dress shirt, or a polka-dot tie.

    Because no one ever wore the Scary School uniform to school, none of the teachers even knew what it looked like, so they assumed that not wearing the school uniform was the school uniform. If a kid showed up wearing the school uniform (usually a new kid) the teachers all thought that kid must be out of uniform, and he got detention.

    Because he was a new kid, Charles Nukid didn’t know that not wearing the school uniform was the school uniform, and he showed up wearing the gray shorts, white dress shirt, and polka-dot tie.

    The hallway monitor, Mr. Spider-Eyes, was the first to see Charles. Mr. Spider-Eyes has one hundred tiny eyes where most people have just one eye. Using normal math, that’s two hundred eyes on his head, but using Monster Math that’s over six thousand eyes. More about that later.

    Mr. Spider-Eyes uses each one of his eyes to spy on every kid in the hallway at the same time. Having spotted Charles out of uniform, he shouted, Hey, you! Get over here!

    Charles pointed to himself. Me?

    Yeah, you! Come here!

    Charles stepped nervously toward Mr. Spider-Eyes, not knowing what he was in trouble for before his first class even started.

    Just what do you think you’re doing not wearing the school uniform? Mr. Spider-Eyes inquired.

    But I am wearing the school uniform. Every bit of it, replied Charles.

    Oh, really? Do you see anyone else around here wearing gray shorts, a white dress shirt, and a polka-dot tie?

    Charles looked at all the kids in the hall, and of course no one was dressed like him.

    No, said Charles.

    Well then, how can it be the school uniform if no one is wearing it?

    I don’t know. It’s my first day here.

    Oh, it’s your first day! Well, that’s no excuse. I suppose you wanted to make an impression and show everyone what a rule-breaking rebel you are, eh?

    Me? No! I never break the rules. I like following the rules.

    That was true. Nothing pleased Charles more than following the rules, no matter what they were. In fact, he always went to bed an hour early each night at 8:00 p.m., just to make sure he’d be asleep by his 9:00 p.m. bedtime. He thought if he was still awake after 9:00 p.m., that would be breaking the rules. He’d feel so guilty that he wouldn’t sleep for a week, which would make him feel even guiltier, and he wouldn’t be able to sleep for two more weeks, thus starting a horrible, sleepless cycle. Once when he was seven, Charles missed his bedtime, the cycle began, and he didn’t sleep for a whole year.

    Oh, you like following rules, huh? Mr. Spider-Eyes grunted. Well, the rule at Scary School is that you can’t go to class if you’re not in uniform. You’ll have to go straight to the detention hall and stay there until you’re wearing the school uniform.

    Okay, I guess I made a mistake, said Charles, bewildered. I’m happy to follow the rules and will go straight to the detention hall.

    So instead of going to his fifth-grade class with Dr. Dragonbreath, Charles Nukid marched straight to the detention hall. He opened the door and was greeted by the same Tyrannosaurus rex wearing the blue dress and cute matching bonnet.

    Hello again, dear, said the dinosaur in her very sweet, old lady’s voice. Looks like you didn’t get very lucky after all. I’m Mrs. T, the detention monitor. I see you’re not wearing the school uniform.

    I know. I thought this was the uniform.

    No. That, my dear, is the furthest thing from the uniform.

    Well, what is the uniform?

    "I’m not sure. Anything but gray shorts, a white dress shirt, and a polka-dot tie, I suppose. Nobody ever wears that."

    But this is all I have with me.

    "That’s too bad. The rule is, you

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