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I.R.L.
I.R.L. | Jenny Goebel
2 posts | 2 read | 1 to read
A spooky tale of virtual school gone very, very wrong... Not every kid would be thrilled to move to rural Alaska, but sixth grader Lucy is eager to leave her bullies behind and start over. However, it turns out that Lucy's new school does remote learning from October to April, when the roads become too icy to navigate safely. Being the new kid is hard enough -- how is she going to make friends when she can't meet anyone in person?! Luckily, the sixth grade class at White Pine Secondary School is tiny (just thirteen students) and they're all super nice and really welcoming. While chatting on zoom, they ask Lucy lots of questions about living in the big city, some of which strike Lucy as a little odd but she just chalks it up to the fact that her new classmates have spent their whole lives in a VERY small town. As the ice starts to thaw, Lucy grows increasingly excited about meeting her new friends in person! But when she enters the school's address on her phone's GPS, it leads her to a crumbling, clearly abandoned building with a rotted wood sign in front -- a sign that reads White Pine Secondary School. There's nothing else in sight... except a tiny cemetery with snow-dusted headstones poking out of the frozen ground. Headstones will some very familiar names on them . . . Lucy doesn’t know what to believe. Are her new “friends” pulling an elaborate prank? Or is truth far, far more horrifying?
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OutsmartYourShelf
Irl | Jenny Goebel
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Lucy & her parents move to a remote town in Alaska for her mum's new job, where the local school, White Pine Secondary, runs online classes during the bad weather. Now in-person classes are due to start & Lucy is looking forward to meeting her 12 classmates, including Mara, Peter, Henry, & Josephine, in real life. They've been friendly, if a little strange at times with the questions they asked & how they dress.
(Continued)

OutsmartYourShelf The next day Lucy sets off for school but soon notices that she seems to be the only one walking there. When she reaches the address given on her phone's GPS, the school is an abandoned building which was obviously almost destroyed in a fire, but the sign outside definitely says White Pine Secondary School. 3d
OutsmartYourShelf Nearby is a tiny cemetery with 12 headstones poking out of the snow & as Lucy examines them the names are horribly familiar: Mara, Peter, Henry, & Josephine, etc. Are her new classmates playing a cruel trick or is the truth more horrifying?

OK, I bought this on a whim when I saw it on sale & although I'm not the target audience for this one, it was a really good read.
3d
OutsmartYourShelf It reminds me of those 'Point Horror' books from the 1990s (which I love) - a good mix of early teenage angst & creeping horror without the gore. If I had one criticism it would have been to lead in with getting to know the online students a little more before going straight to meeting in real life, but it's a minor quibble. This is a fairly short (170 pages), pacy read, perfect for those winter nights. 4.5🌟 3d
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DieAReader 🎉🎉🎉 3d
Andrew65 Excellent 🎉🎉🎉 3d
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GerardtheBookworm
I.R.L. | Jenny Goebel
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The school I work was doing a Scholastic Book Fair and the trailer was really intriguing to my students. A young, bullied protagonist opts for remote learning to a rural school in Alaska where the attendance is just 13 students. When she gets the opportunity to travel to the state to meet her new friends, she discovers an abandoned school and gravestones listing all 13 of her classmates! What is happening in this paranormal, horror middle reader!

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