Substitute Creature
By Charles Gilman
By Lacy LeBlanc
”Things could always be worse,” Glenn said.
This is the fourth installment of the Lovecraft Middle School series. Inevitably, it will contain spoilers. You’ve been warned.
It’s Valentine’s Day at Lovecraft Middle School. Naturally, Robert is trapped on a ledge four stories above the cold, frozen ground with Glenn instead of sitting in the assembly with Karina. Fortunately, the boys make it safely off the ledge, but that’s just the start of their adventure. A strangely small nor’easter is centered directly over their school, trapping Robert, his mother, a janitor, Karina, a spoiled classmate—and the substitute librarian, Miss Carcasse, who smells like blooming roses and burning hair.
Let me start by saying that this book comes out in September and that I am writing this feature in June. Why do I have to write it so quickly, you may ask? Because my 12 year old finally took my advice to read the series and has been bugging me for weeks to let him read the latest volume. Back to Substitute Creature.
Being stuck in school (or a mall or a museum or whatever) is a pretty standard teen plotline. However, most kids aren’t stuck with their mother and a sub who smells like death. Oh, and don’t forget that the reason it’s so cold at Lovecraft Middle is because the Old Ones run a little hot and need a welcoming environment for when they break into the school. For what it’s worth, if you peruse the list of Great Old Ones and their descriptions, you’ll notice that Lovecraft’s originals look nothing like what’s presented in Gilman’s book. In fact, I suspect that Gilman was traumatized by Critters or possibly an episode of the original StarTrek.
The setting also provides the perfect opportunity for the relationship between Robert and Karina to develop. Not that they can do much about it, what with her being stuck in the school and a ghost. But that doesn’t mean they can’t start to figure out their feelings for each other. This relationship is also the crux of the book’s Big Moral Dilemma. I give Gilman a lot of credit for understanding that being young doesn’t excuse you from having to deal with heavy issues. I also give him a lot of credit for throwing in a twist or two into each book that I don’t expect. Overall, this is a solid fourth installment of Lovecraft Middle School, and I bet your middle schooler will enjoy it as much as mine does.
