When Milton and Marlo Fauster die in a marshmallow-bear explosion, they get sent straight to Heck, an otherworldly reform school. Milton can understand why his kleptomaniac sister is here, but Milton is orwas a model citizen. Has a mistake been made? Not according to Bea Elsa Bubb, the Principal of Darkness. She doesn t make mistakes. She personally sees to it that Heck whether it be home ec class with Lizzie Borden, ethics with Richard Nixon, or gym with Blackbeard the pirate is especially, well,heckishfor the Fausters. Will Milton and Marlo find a way to escape? Or are they stuck here for all eternity, or until they turn eighteen, whichever comes first? ★ The author umpteen clever allusions . . . make this book truly sparkle. Publishers Weekly,Starred Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

Starred Review. In his uproarious send-up of all things purgatorial, debut novelist Basye gives readers a new lease on afterlifes. Milton, a blameless 11-year-old bookworm, and his blue-haired, thirteen-going-on-thirty-year-old sister, Marlo, are at the Mall of Generica (in Generica, Kans.), when they meet their demise in a ludicrous accident (Milton's nemesis plants a stick of dynamite in a 20-foot-tall statue made from marshmallow: Smoke, noise, and burning marshmallow fused together to create a sickeningly sweet moment, one that was both ridiculously tragic and tragically ridiculous). Unfortunately, Marlo has been shoplifting and stashed her goods in Milton's gear, so both get sent to Heck—a hell for the under-18 demographic. Never mind that Milton is technically innocent: The devil's in the details, snaps Heck's principal, Bea Elsa Bubb. After a series of ill-fated yet deliciously documented attempts to escape, one sibling succeeds in returning from the Underworld, but the finale is almost beside the point. The author's umpteen clever allusions—characters' eternal fates are decided by standardized Soul Aptitude Tests; Mr. R. Nixon teaches ethics to evildoers in room 1972—make this book truly sparkle. Ages 9–12. (July) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

Gr 6-8-Quintessential good-kid Milton Fauster knows all about his sister Marlo's life of petty crime. So, when they are both killed in a freak marshmallow explosion, he isn't surprised that she doesn't qualify for Heaven, but he's shocked to find that he isn't going there either. They end up in Heck, an unearthly reform school that isn't quite Hell, but certainly not a place anyone would want to stay in "for all eternity-or until they turn 18, whichever comes first." Principal Bea "Elsa" Bubb figures that there is something irregular about Milton's soul contract and keeps a close eye on him. Milton, meanwhile, plans to escape. During a dreary class, he meets Virgil, who has a map of the Nine Circles of Heck. Unfortunately, the only way out is through the sewer pipes, literally "down the toilet." The torments of the darned are described in vivid and often grotesque detail. Errant toddlers nap in gingerbread coffins while Boogeypeople read them Edgar Allan Poe. Milton and company make two graphically described voyages through the underworld plumbing. There are numerous classical and historical allusions, many of which will sail over the heads of the intended audience. ("I have an ax to grind with you," snarls home-economics teacher Lizzie Borden, after giving the celery 40 whacks.) In the end, the clever, if somewhat disturbing premise is overwhelmed by slow pacing and relentless descriptions of garbage, sewage, and other heckishly unpleasant things.-Elaine E. Knight, Lincoln Elementary Schools, IL Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information