Remember "Moaning Myrtle"? (it hasn't been that long)? And remember how despite her epithet "moaning", each and every encounter with her ends up being hilariously funny? Well, Milrose Munce and the Den of Professional Help by Douglas Anthony Cooper is full of such Myrtles, with differing degrees of humour and potential for humour.
Milrose Munce is a genius with a secret: the halls of his school are filled with the ghosts of students who died there, and only he can see them. Although he is not very fond of the jocks in the basement or the artists on the second floor, he fits in very well with the victims of science on the third floor. And he is very happy socialising with and learning from his other-worldly friends. So, it comes as a surprise to him that quirky fellow captive Arabella can also see the ghosts.
The talent of "talking to air" and "giving the air pats on its back" has earned both of them a spell with the dreaded Professional Help, in the form of Massimo Natica. And although they have no idea (to start with) what the Professional Help is, once they start, the Help confirms all their fears. First of all, the Den is reached by turning left where you cannot turn left, on the ghost-free first floor, and they have doubts how "Professional" the help is, what with the absence of any diplomas. But that's just for starters, and the Professional Help is going to be pretty much deadly (and not only for Milrose and Arabella), unless they can find a way to reunite with their ghostly buddies.
Milrose Bysshe Munce is a genius, and is sarcastic enough to know it. Which of course means he has learnt everything before it is taught in class. But to be fair, he appreciates the rare strokes of genius (and sarcasm) the teachers can come up with. He is very interested in explosions (for science's sake, not for blowing anybody up), and of course, in the birthmark of Caroline Corduroy (the erstwhile flame of his friend, Cryogenic Kelvin). His interest in explosions is probably the most important thing that can help him and Arabella escape the Den, but of course, he has to master the art of deplosions for that.
Article comments
1 - Natalie Bennett
This article has been selected for syndication to Advance.net , which is affiliated with newspapers around the United States, and to Boston.com. Nice work!