Diane Chen

Suddenly Supernatural
April 27, 2008

Found an interesting review of Suddenly Supernatural from a student in Ms R's English class using LibraryThing. While I'm not pretending it was the most well-written review, I was impressed with how the student captured some key quotes. Fantastic Fiction's blurb seems to capture the essence of the book, but I feel in the mood to rattle on. While I was researching this title, I also found Olsen Middle School and Mr. Thatcher's Gr 5-8 Students' Blog where they reviewed this book in their own way. Be sure to read their comments on each other's work.

Elizabeth Cody Kimmel's newest series is Suddenly Supernatural with Book 1 School Spirit out this June by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. I read it very quickly and immediately was disappointed that Book 2 wasn't out yet. Do you know the feeling? The author creates a large group of believable characters with many quirks and leaves mysteries unsolved for the future?
 
I actually found myself quite irritated with the main character at times. She was presented without concealor so we could "make-up" our own minds about her. All her flaws were there for us to see and groan about as she tries to come to terms with both 7th grade and developing psychic powers. You become involved because you want to send her messages to tell her what to do. Argh!

Maybe I was irritated because this was part supernatural, part comedy and I take my supernatural encounters much too seriously. <grin> If a dead person appears to me, you can bet I'm going to help them solve their problems so they go away as soon as possible. You won't find me squeezing my eyes shut and whispering "Please, not now, please not now. Just not now." like Kat does.  Everyone knows closing your eyes and wishing just makes it harder to open your eyes and more likely that you'll scream. I know. I've tried it. Spiders, snakes, bullies, they just keep coming and don't disapparate.  

Suddenly Supernatural is a fun, mother-daughter story about accepting not being normal. As Kat's mother says, "in reality there is no normal. Normal is something people have agreed to invent so we have something to compare ourselves to." Thankfully this is a story where both mother and daughter love each other and accept their imperfections.

This is a mystery, a school friendship story, and a comedic dealing-with-bullies-in-middle school tale. When a classmate comes to visit her "unusual" home while her mother is helping a client, you can't help laughing at how Kat tries to pretend nothing strange is happening. I could just see her trying to ignore the floating lamps and bagpipes. If you've ever heard bagpipes, you know just thinking about them makes you laugh. Go enjoy Suddenly Supernatural. 

Meanwhile, Elizabeth Cody Kimmel, get back to work and send me #2 and #3. I am very impatient to see what happens next. I have suspicions and I can't wait to read to see if I'm that smart or not. Being surprised by an author is one time when I enjoy being wrong.

Posted by Diane Chen on April 27, 2008 | Comments (2)