Title: Milrose Munce and the Den of Professional Help
Author: Douglas Anthony Cooper
Publisher: Random House
Source: My personal library
From the Random House site:
No one except Milrose Munce knows that ghosts of former students live in his school. Not only is Milrose aware of these ghouls – he’s on a first-name basis with all of them. Of course, some are more likeable than others: the third floor is the home to nearly all of his good friends. Most of them – like Imploded Ig, Deeply Damaged Dave, and Toasted Theresa – were the victims of science experiments gone wrong though they do manage to maintain a sense of humour about their demise. Then there are the ghost athletes who lurk in the basement – a pretty disagreeable group, the majority of them having died after a particularly clumsy manoeuvre on the school’s sports field.
After Milrose is given yet another detention for offering his teacher an answer that was just a bit too clever, his life takes an unexpected turn. He is sent to a hidden den in the school’s basement to receive Professional Help. Here, he and the quick-witted Arabella, a fellow captive, are put under round-the-clock supervision of the maniacal Massimo Natica. Fortunately for Milrose and Arabella, once they join forces with their ghostly friends, Massimo Natica doesn’t stand a chance.
This is a book easily enjoyed by adults and pre-teens. Any age knows one person who repeats a joke that was funny the first time and Milrose can show them how to handle the repetitiveness with grace. Milrose is awkward around real people but not his ghost friends.
Arabella and Milrose make a good team. She can see the ghosts in school too and that’s why they are sent to the Den of Professional Help together. The faculty don’t want the ghosts around and anyone who can see them is a threat.