Heck: Where the Bad Kids Go
by Dale E. Basye

    HECK: WHERE THE BAD KIDS GO by Dale E. Basye
    Illustrated by:  Bob Dob
    Category:  Fantasy
    Age Recommendation:  Grades 6+
    Release Date:  7/22/08
    Publisher:  Random House
    Reviewed by:  Rebecca Wells
    Rating:  5 Stars


    When Milton and Marlo Fauster die in a marshmallow bear explosion, they are sent not to Heaven or Hell, but instead
    to Heck, an otherworldly reform school for “bad kids.” There, they must toil until they turn eighteen, at which point
    their souls will be reevaluated and sent on. Though Marlo, a teenager with an unfortunate case of kleptomania, clearly
    belongs in Heck, the siblings are at a loss to understand why Milton is there as well – he has always been a model
    citizen.

    Could there possibly have been a mistake?

    The authorities claim otherwise, and so Milton and Marlo are forced to endure such classes as ethics with Robert
    Nixon and gym with Blackbeard the pirate as they plot their way out of Heck. But will these intrepid siblings discover
    a way to escape, or will they be forced to stay in this thoroughly heckish place forever?

    HECK: WHERE THE BAD KIDS GO is a book that will appeal to everyone still a child at heart. The narration flows
    smoothly with a thoroughly engaging voice, and the landscape of Heck is funny and inventive; it is a world where
    children are forced to eat their way out of rooms as punishment, where candy can glue mouths shut, and where good
    dreams are strictly prohibited.

    Dale E. Basye takes the reader on a nonstop adventure that is sometimes touching, sometimes disgusting in the best of
    gleeful ways, and at all times captivatingly entertaining.