by Darcy Marks

Mal and his friends are just regular teens, except that their quiet suburban neighborhood is located in an unusual place – Hell. They are currently under lock down during their last vacation together for a while because of an escaped prisoner from the 8th circle of… Hell. The friends end up “falling” into another dimension – Earth – and realize they have to help bring the escaped prisoner home if they want to get back to their regular lives. This funny story was full of adventure and turned the stereotypical ideas of Hell=bad/Heaven=good a bit on its head. As it turns out, BOTH do the world a pretty important service & by working together, they just might accomplish their goals more efficiently. Similar to the recent popularity of mythology books by Rick Riordan and others, this tale melds a bit of the horror genre with the mythology of the hereafter. Much of the story takes place on Halloween in Salem, Massachusetts (& in Hell), so it’s also a perfect October read! There is a slight hint of a possible lgbtq romantic relationship in Mal’s future, but it’s very subtle. Mal has romantic interest in both a girl and a boy in the book – neither of which really develops in the story until a romantic letter he writes at the very end to one of his interests. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and am sure my students will eat it up!