No One Wants School Spirits

The Prodigium live by a set of rules, but not everyone wants to follow those rules. When a Prodigium threatens people, the Brannicks are there to help. In a spin-off from the Hex Hall series, Isolde Brannick is put to the test with her first solo case. But School Spirits might prove to be more than she can handle.

Izzy lives the life of a Brannick. Once the fearless hunters of Prodigium, the Brannicks are now essentially the Prodigium police. They take care of any supernatural creatures who get carried away or go rogue and could hurt the mortals around them. During a routine bust a few months ago, Izzy's sister Finn disappeared. Now the only two Brannick's left are Izzy and her mother. When they get word of a haunting in a school, Izzy is given her first solo job. And hauntings can get ugly quick, but not as ugly as high school.

After watching enough teen TV shows to have a vague idea of what happens in an actual high school, Izzy sets off to do recon and blend in. Immediately she finds a handful of kids in a Ghost Hunting club. Mostly mocked, ignored if they are lucky, Dex, Romy, and Anderson make up the rag tag group investigating the haunting of the school that has already left one teacher in a near coma. While hauntings are relatively simple to solve, humans toying around with the supernatural is never a good thing. While Izzy should be maintaining a decent distant, it is hard not to start to really care for the kids in the group. But in a case, the minute you get attached, you put yourself in danger, and everyone around you. 

I really loved the Hex Hall series, so I was stoked to see a new series from the same world. And having it focus more on the Brannicks, in charge of controlling the unruly Prodigium, is even better yet. We saw the Brannicks toward the end of the first series, and while I wanted more of the Prodigium there, now I am very happy to have their side of the story. You could, however, easily read this story without having read the first series, but knowledge of Hex Hall will just help you to understand the world the Brannicks work in. There was a lot left open for the continuation of the series, like Izzy missing sister and the warlock trapped in a mirror who predicts Izzy will be the one to finally free him (something she repeatedly tells him won't happen).  

The story is very clean, perfect for a middle reader or a low-skilled young adult reader. It has a great amount of action, the dialogue is witty, and Izzy is a trip. It would catch any kid's attention. I look forward to more of the Brannicks to come, and in particular, to have a chance to watch Izzy come into her own!