Monsters on the March (Scary School #2)
Publication: June 26, 2012
Pages: 256
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Illustrator: Website
Publisher: Harper Collins
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A copy was provided by publisher for review purposes
As winners of last year’s Ghoul Games, the students of Scary School are off to Monster Forest. School may be scary, but the forest has a few frights of its own, including:
Bearodactyls—so terrifying we can’t even show you pictures of them
Princess Zogette, the Monster King’s toad-faced daughter, who falls for Charles Nukid . . . hard
Captain Pigbeard, fearsome leader of the Monster-Pirates and Princess Zogette’s fiancÉ (well, former fiancé, thanks to Charles)
And when Zogette follows Charles to Scary School, the Monster King and Captain Pigbeard raise their armies and chase after her. But the monsters have no idea who—or what—they’re dealing with.
This is one of my favorite middle-grade fantasy series. Book one was about introducing us to the characters and the school. In a way, this book is much like the first. We are introduced to more characters and their stories, but this book follows a more stream-lined plot. There is a set “bad guy” with the monsters determined to take down Scary School, and the kids determined to protect it and the epic “romance” between Princess Zogette and Charles Nukid.
Boys will love this series for the action, and girls will love the epic romance part (poor Charles). Plus, there are hints that there might be something between Charles and Penny. What really makes the story, however, is how the students get themselves out of various dangerous situations and grow all the more closer for it. There is so much potential for drama at a scary school, especially when various characters misinterpret different situations.
In this book, Derek introduces us to new monsters, some too scary in their adult forms to be illustrated in the text, and old favorites return. Monster Math takes on new significance, and we learn how monster kingdoms can be taken over. The Scary School books are books that adults and children alike will enjoy. I can easily imagine a family reading the books together. As always, gorgeous illustrations accompany the text. I recommend buying a hardcopy, as it makes it all the better to appreciate the beauty of the illustrations in the context of the story.
Author: Crystal
A story girl at heart, Crystal is a bibliophile who can easily spend the day immersed in a good read. She writes under the name Kristy Wang. You can follow her writing adventures on X and Instagram @_kristywang.
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