Suddenly Supernatural: Crossing Over
by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel
Oh how excited I was when this fourth book in the Suddenly Supernatural series finally had a pub date. And then the cover was revealed and so was the summary – this book is taking place right next door to me! How awesome is that?
Set in Montreal and Old Montreal, Kat, Jac and the class are on a school trip this time around over a weekend. Three days in Montreal, Canada and Kat collects a gaggle of spirits who follow her around and sit next to the boy she’s crushing on on their motor coach.
It was very cool to read about the Notre-Dame Basilica and the Montreal Biodome from the perspective of someone who doesn’t live here. I take these places for granted (although I do love the Biodome!) and as much as I dislike living here I am still all excited when I hear a story is taking place right next to my house.
This book had everything you could ask for on an eighth-grade school trip – there was parental chaperone/teenage daughter angst, mean girls, boy crush nervousness, over-zealous yet cool tour guide, dorky French teacher, lost French-Canadian spirits and best friend plotting.
One thing that made me laugh was the fact that the French-Canadian tour guide, when speaking English to the group on the bus would start every sentence with “Okay, guys!”. You have no idea how accurate that is. I have known so many French-Canadian males that while speaking English to a group of people (even on class trips) say this often.
Kimmel even got our famous Quebec-meal in the book – poutine. I am unsure as to which restaurant she was referring to when the class went to a “poutine restaurant” for dinner, where all it had was poutine. I’m a poutine purest to be honest, I just like mine with fries, gravy and cheese curds. None of this fancy Italian or Mexican poutine for me.
I do hope there will be another Suddenly Supernatural book in the future. It’s rare that I get this excited over a book. It’s different than with other series that I enjoy. I actually squeal when I see this book in stock. In fact when I checked the Chapigo site Friday night at 8PM and saw that ONE store had 2 copies in stock (as it is just releasing on May 1st) and that ONE store was near my house, I made my husband drive me there right away so I could pick it up. They had just received it that day and it hadn’t even made it to the shelves yet. I dare say I am the first in Montreal to have a copy in her hands and have read it all in one swoop on Saturday morning. Wooty woot!
Suddenly Supernatural Series
I hadn’t heard of poutine until I read THE PILLOW BOOK OF LOTUS LOWENSTEIN. It doesn’t sound that great to me, but then again, I don’t like gravy.
I think this is a great series–I’m looking forward to this one!
Super cute cover
I am so looking forward to this one – this is definitely one of my favorite middle reader series, and I know I would have loved it even more when I was a kid. And how fun that it was set in Montreal. Just thinking about it makes me want to come back for another visit!