Suddenly Supernatural Book One: School Spirit

Suddenly Supernatural: School Spirit by, Elizabeth Cody. ISBN-13: 978-0316066839

Seventh grade is a frightening experience for most kids, but for Kat, it's positively ghastly. Or, to be more accurate, it's positively ghostly. You see, on her thirteenth birthday Kat has begun to see spirits. All Kat wants is to be happy and normal-- to have people like Shoshanna Longbarrow and her satellite girls start to talk to her. Instead, the only people who seem to want to talk to her are dead! Luckily, Kat becomes friends with Jac, the new girl who is always dragging around her giant cello case. Jac reminds Kat that people are often more than they seem to be-- living or dead!. These two friends battle seventh grade dramatics and mayhem while solving a spooky mystery regarding a spirit trapped in their school's library.

The characters in this story are fabulous. Cody perfectly portrays the insecurities and frustrations of middle school through the eyes of a delightful girl who just wants to fit in-- a theme most tweens can relate to. Kat can't help but wish that her fabulous, incense burning, hippie, vegetarian, seance-holding medium mother could be just a little more normal. While Cody exaggerates the eccentricities of Kat's mother, she also clearly depicts her as the type of mom that any kid would be lucky to have-- providing readers with the message that normal isn't necessarily better. This story has the perfect mix of morality, mystery, magic, and middle-school mayhem. Kids who enjoy watching "The Wizards of Waverly Place" should turn off the tube and pick up this book! It's got a similar theme with characters who are less theatrical, easier to relate to, and better role models.