Strangely Bumptious and the Ghosts of Crypts Academy — Mark Russell

Ghosts! Spies! Nausea!!! Award winning author Mark Russell brings us a rollicking ghost story with an endearing protagonist, where the sick kids win the day. Strangely Bumptious has a problem. There’s a ghost in his closet named Frank. And Frank wants to recruit Strangely to be a Spook for the Ghost Intelligence Agency (G.I.A.) because he has a rare gift. He can turn into a ghost! Always off balance and nauseous with Meniere’s Disease, Strangely relishes the moments he’s out of his sick body, as a ghost with no ‘tippy’ symptoms. But to be a certified Spook Agent, Strangely has to complete his first mission. He must stop the evil ghost Dr. Dubsdread from haunting his new school, Crypts Academy. To do this, Strangely must find the lost bones of a 200-year-old ghost named Lizzie, and return them to the crypt. Together with his new friend Waver Standing, Strangely races against the clock (slowly, of course, so as not to get the tippies) to find Lizzie’s bones before Dr. Dubsdread attacks the Halloween Dance and closes Crypts Academy forever. Not to mention the whole fabric of reality unraveling. No pressure.