Olivia Kidney and The Exit Academy

May 1, 2005
Gr 5-8 -Feisty Olivia Kidney is back again in another zany, surreal, and ultimately satisfying adventure. After her well-meaning but inept father is fired from yet another handyman job, he is offered a position as a live-in superintendent at a mysterious brownstone on West 84th Street. The novel believably fuses realism and fantasy; while life appears to be somewhat normal outside of the building, inside, the first floor is a lagoon that must be maneuvered via boat, and the handsome owner, Ansel Plover, welcomes puzzling late-night guests. Olivia discovers that these visitors are all about to die and come in a dreamlike state to the "Exit Academy" to rehearse their deaths. This may all sound rather macabre, but Potter imbues the story with large doses of humor, so even the practice death scenes have a vaudeville air about them. Plot strands abound as Olivia befriends neighbors who attend a ridiculous finishing school, meets a champion skateboarder in Central Park, and encounters two colorful characters -Madame Brenda and the Princepessa -from "Olivia Kidney" (Philomel, 2003). The writing crackles with energy, and, beneath the bizarre happenings, themes emerge that are connected to Olivia's personal growth and acceptance of her brother's death. The author adroitly draws all of the subplots together in a complex and inventive climax that will keep readers guessing till the last page." -Caroline Ward, The Ferguson Library, Stamford, CT"

Copyright 2005 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 15, 2005
Gr. 4-7. Olivia is back in another wacky adventure as she and her inept father trade their high-rise apartment for a Manhattan brownstone that features a lagoon and floating living room furniture. The brownstone's owner, Ansel Plover, runs the Exit Academy from his home, where strange nightly visitors learn how their imminent deaths will occur, including a stage rehearsal of the moment of death. Lonely Olivia, still looking for friends and grieving her brother Christopher's death, attempts to master his beloved skateboard, a hobby she ultimately fails at while rolling into a budding romance. Characters from the first novel, " Olivia Kidney "(2003), make appearances, and Olivia is enlisted to help a hospitalized girl languishing in a coma. Dashes of Dahl, snippets of Snicket, and heaps of Horvath humor abound, and like its prequel, this can be read on many levels. Sophisticated readers will look beyond the supernatural high jinks to philosophize about the mysteries of death, including a suicide. Sparkling writing, madcap characters, and serious themes contribute to a read-aloud that adults will enjoy as much as the children.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2005, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2005
Olivia and her father move into a brownstone where the first floor is navigable only by boat, and whose charming owner, Ansel Plover, runs a business for "evening visitors." Eventually Olivia learns that Ansel runs an "Exit Academy," a school dreaming people attend to rehearse their imminent deaths. This sequel to "Olivia Kidney" is clever, imaginative, and enjoyably offbeat.

(Copyright 2005 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

March 1, 2005
Her inept superintendent father having been fired once again, Olivia is happy to move from an apartment into a real house -- a brownstone where the first floor is navigable only by boat, and whose charming owner, Ansel Plover, runs a business for "evening visitors." Olivia is highly skeptical of Ansel, but between befriending a girl from the School for Superior Children next door and practicing on her late brother's skateboard, it takes her a while to learn that Ansel runs an "Exit Academy," a school dreaming people attend to rehearse their imminent deaths. The first Olivia Kidney book (rev. 9/03) had unusual sparkle and drive; the sequel is less unusual but nevertheless clever and imaginative. Multiple plots and subplots and sometimes-clumsy prose (too much visual description, awkwardly placed adverbs) make for slow moments, but those are balanced by glints of interesting humor. "You can't get good pretzels, you can't look into the future...what's the advantage of being dead anyway?" Olivia complains to the ghost of her brother. Enjoyably offbeat.

(Copyright 2005 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)