Screech School

Gr 3-8–This installment picks up where readers left the trauma-bonded gang in the series opener Dread Detention. The group beat the eerie caretakers of their school once, but fear of their return haunts daily life. Danger does return, in a winged form and from the skies. Readers mostly follow de facto leader Angelo, who’s also got the weight of family and class expectations on his shoulders. Still, that takes the backseat to the actual monsters attacking his daily moves. Killick’s action is intense and immediate, shattering through the beginning (almost literally) and continuing the onslaught. A tight plot and well-rounded characters are secondary to the cinematic dangers on every page. The author does sneak in educational materials, teaching about nature with the details of the animal hybrid villains. There is a focus on vampire birds, based on the very real vampire ground finch; they’ve just been morphed to monstrous proportions. Regardless of any loose threads, the story is a definite rush, particularly for reluctant readers.