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 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.
In the tradition of Edward Gorey and Roald Dahl, the dark comedy and imaginative brilliance of Milrose Munce and the Den of Professional Help will appeal to adults as much as it will to younger readers.
Okay, I wrote it. So my opinion isn't entirely objective. (And even if I in fact considered it a four-star book, I'd probably give it five stars anyway. Authors are like that.)
So, the free Kindle books on Amazon are a bit of a double-edged sword. On one hand, you have the free classics (which absolutely rock!), but then you have the other ones which are romance or christian or a little bit of both. And that really isn't my cup of tea. However, a free book is a free book. So, if it looks mildly interesting, it's going to get downloaded and maybe read. Milrose Munce and the Den of Professional Help was one of those books. I saw it and thought "cool cover". Read the plot and thought "interesting premise". Read that it was considered YA and thought "Freakin' Awesome!!!". Having read Milrose Munce, I have to say that I loved it!
First off, this book was just so hilarious. The first page had me laughing out loud. You see, the thing is, sarcastic people tend to have a soft spot for other sarcastic people. So I absolutely loved Milrose Munce. Yes, he was a smart ass. Yes, he was rude more times than not. But he had the most amazing dry sense of humor (And I love me some dry sense of humor), so I couldn't help but be endeared by him. He's a charmer that succeeded to charm me (and I don't charm easily). But most importantly, Milrose Munce was a loyal and true hero. And I'm a sucker for loyal and true heroes (see my Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone review...)
Another thing I loved about this book, besides the witty wordplay and the amazing prose, was the ghosts. I not only have a soft spot for sarcastic people, but also for anything paranormal: zombies, vampires (the vicious "if I see you outside at night, I'm going to bite you, I don't care how pretty you are" kind), werewolves, ghosts. I love them all. These ghosts, however, weren't of the spooky kind. They were more practical jokers. They also encompassed every stereotype. You had the athletes, the scientists, and the God-awful poets. You also get cool tidbits as to how they died. I like the ghosts so much that I thought they should've been in the book more. As much as I loved Milrose Munce, I was oddly intrigued by the ghosts.
Anyway, I have to say that I absolutely loved Milrose Munce and the Den of Professional Help. It was just such a fun book that I feel like kids and adults can both enjoy it. It'll just put a smile on your face when it's not making you laugh out loud. I am hoping (and praying!) that there is a second installment in this series. I think this series has a lot of potential, if marketed of course. And on the upside, Milrose Munce has given me hopes that not all of the Kindle's free books are christian/romance and therefore useless (as useless as shy people were for Milrose Munce) to me.
I have mixed feelings about this book, which is about a boy who can see ghosts and is put in a special classroom where he is subjected to an inept counselor for a prolonged period of time. It was wildly clever, entertaining, and thoughtful at its best and deserves to be commended for its use of language and storytelling. My favorite was the horse named “Sociopath.” These are rare feats these days, to be sure.
The actual story gave me much more trouble though. As much as it was meant to be silly and inventive, surely something more ominous could’ve been invented rather than the vague threat of being “cured.” Milrose and Arabella must undergo countless pointless exercises, some of which struggled to keep my attention. I found myself wanting to go more into the details of their growing affections for each other. Their interactions were surprisingly congenial. What does it mean that they always said “you are kind” to each other? Instead, getting stuck between the walls seemed an unsatisfactory way of having them leave their den without having them escape. I wasn’t too moved by the ultimate climax either, feeling more sorry for their counselor, Massimo Natica, than anything else.
Despite all this, I would still recommend the story to readers of the young-adult genre. See if the playfulness of the language works for you. The mix of antiquated and modern language was unique. Reading “dude” and “chick” seemed weird, but I appreciated the birthmark, ghost chemistry, and naming tropes. If Mr. Cooper is still out there writing, the one thing I would urge him to do is add a bit more complexity to his story. Thanks for a quality read!
UPDATE 9/20/2010: Ordered a hard copy of this magnificent book for my dear niece to enjoy! Found it on amazon.co.uk and shipped in less than a week. I can't wait to find out what she thinks.
I absolutely loved this book. Fun and entertaining even for an adult reader, I think many young readers will appreciate the humor and heroism this book contains.
Milrose Munce is just a bit different from his classmates, those that are living anyway. He is seen as quirky by most peers, a non-threat by the jocks, and a whiz by the science geeks. He doesn't fit well into any social category, but seems tolerated or accepted by all. This all changes when his teachers begin to see Milrose having animated conversations with empty space, or laughing at jokes no one else can hear.
It seems that the school Milrose attends has a plethora of dead student's ghosts occupying various floors. They all died at school, some by explosions, some by stunts gone wrong, and some by accidents on the playing field. All of them are thrilled to have a friend as versatile as Milrose.
The snag is that Milrose's behavior has been deemed as in need of "Professional Help." No one seems to know what this 'help' consists of, only that there has been just one survivor of Professional Help and he is deeply disturbed. Finding himself (and his new maybe-squeeze, Arabella) trapped, Milrose can only hope his other-worldly friends will be able to rescue them before they are "cured."
Milrose Munce is the type of teenager that everyone can find a reason to like. He's smarter than his teachers, yet uses his smarts in such delightful ways. He doesn't come off as better than anyone, unless they deserve it, in which case Milrose takes great care to be sure they have no idea he's insulting them. No, instead our hero uses his intelligence to his advantage, to play games with people. And while his uniqueness does seem to gain him mostly positive attention (except from the occasional teacher), he doesn't really fit in with anyone. Not anyone living anyway. All of his closest friends are dead. And when the school officials notice you patting the air on the back and laughing at jokes being told by no one, what do they do? Well they get you Professional help -- in a den. That turns out to be a lot more fun for the reader of this book than it is for Milrose.
This book is very smart and funny. I'd highly recommended even for people who might not traditionally flock to YA books (though I do like them myself). It does have a more advanced vocabulary than some YA / Children's books but the content itself is okay for even some younger readers if they are strong readers. I'm going to recommend it to my 9 year old nephew who reads at a more advanced level.
I read the free version on Kindle and liked it enough that when the revised, expanded version was released I bought it. My grandson and I are reading it together.... Milrose and his dead friends is a much fresher idea than that whole overworked Harry Potter thing. And asan adult I rather like the quirky idea of dead kids roaming a high school and befriending a current student, and why not befriend him ... Milrose is a very likable oddball. Children 3rd grade and above, teens, and adults will all love this book, especially if they ever felt out of the loop while in school. It's not just a great story written well to appeal to all ages... there are lessons to be learned tucked neatly into the story starting with learning to accept other people for who they are, (even if they are dead)...and the importance of being true to who you are even when others try to change you. Here's hoping for a sequel!
I read this book because it was free for my Kindle. I probably would give it more like 4.5 stars, not quite five because I don't feel it's "epic", but it's still great!
A really funny, clever, imaginative, creative, hilarious (add more adjetives here) book. I laughed out loud all the way through. The author has such a witty style of writing that you can really hear the characters and their wise cracks. This would be a great book to read out loud to my kids, except it does deal with ghosts. That might freak them out a little.
The ghosts are "The Sixth Sense" type of ghost. Their body stayed in the matter that they died. There names represent their untimely demise such as; Deeply Damaged Dave and Stuck Stu. SO FUNNY!!!! and Clever, and Imaginative, and Hilarious, and Witty, and (add another adjetive).
This is one of the few good books that Amazon.com has recommended to me. Usually, they recommend some whacked out book that isn't at all my sort of thing.
It's another book I'd read to my imaginary demented little kids. Suitable for almost all ages. I thought it was hilarious,sarcastic, clever, and smart. I have a large vocabulary, and the author used words that I had to look up.
It kind of reminded of a cross between Edward Gorey and Lemony Snicket.The characters are all either being put through demented events or dying in ridiculously horrific ways. It was really fun. I hope the author writes a series of Milrose Munce books.
This was just a fun read - a young adult book about a teenager who sees ghosts. I suppose you'd have to call it "dark humor" - the ghosts are all quite gruesome - but the whole book has a very lighthearted feel to it. It's been compared to Edward Gorey, and while I tend to associate Gorey more with his drawings, I can see a connection.
I actually enjoyed this more than I expected to. It's probably not my usual type of book, but it held my attention start to finish. Strange, but somehow cute.
This book is a hoot! It's not what I was expecting, but was better. It's quite dark with a lot of dry and sarcastic humor. The story is a little unexpected and a lot of fun.
I would caution that it might be for teens and not the 8-11 year old set. There are quite a few big words (part of the charm of the main character - I would love the author to do another book with him) and I think my son would get annoyed with not knowing what some of them meant. But for 12+ age group, go for it!
Well well well worth a read. I can't wait to see what the author does next.
I really enjoyed this young adult book. It is in a similar vein of Lemony Snickett, but oriented to older readers. The basic story is about a middle school boy that talks to ghosts and the "Professional Help" he is sent to that will "solve his problem". It has a nice early teen romance and lost of non-scary ghosts. I would say it is appropriate for advanced 10 year old to about 15 year old readers.
An interesting read, and many people seem to really like it, but I found it to alternate between being pretentious and silly (and not silly in a good way). Perhaps it's been too many decades since I was a "young adult", but I can only see young children accepting the story as is, while some of the subject matter will either go over their heads or possibly not be suitable; so I guess I don't see myself ever having really liked this book regardless of my age.
A witty, fun read for all the poets, geeks, and misfits out there. This book is a subversively entertaining read about two teens who are being "cured" of their ability to see the ghosts of all the dead teens in their school. I love snark, and our hero, Milrose Munce, provides plenty of it. The best part of this book is that Cooper really knows how to craft a clever sentence. A creepy, hilarious, and well-written read.
This was a very funny book. I wish I knew a child that would enjoy the book. It is full of ghost who have died in funny ways and the ghost continues to have fun an the school that Milrose Munce goes to. I think that the right child would just have a blast reading this.
I got this book free for my Kindle and didn't really know what to expect. It's got an array of ghosts, evil teachers, and a brilliant hero and heroine. Darkly humorous and filled with wit, sarcasm and the worst poetry ever composed. I loved it.
This book was a fun little romp. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Whatsmore, I'm positive I'd have enjoyed this as much at 12 as I did at... well, over 21 ;) The characters are likeable and funny and it's got some interesting twists and fun plays on words. I certainly hope this becomes a series.
Absolutely hysterical. And I didn't pay a cent for it thanks to Amazon and Kindle. Written about a school boy, but definitely a fun read for any age. I don't usually like 'ghost' stories, but this was quite the exception!
This book is about a high school student that can see dead former-students that haunt the high school. It is written for young adults. I found myself laughing hard and often. It was a fun read for the language, visual images evoked, and the story itself.
Although this book did not have the "weight" of other books I give 5 stars to, it completely and thoroughly entertained me from beginning to end. Also, the vocabulary is fantastic for a "kids'" book. I made copious use of my Kindle's definition lookup feature!
I laughed out loud quiet a few times reading this book. The verbal sparring between characters is great! As is a lot of the description and small one-liners thrown in by the author. Very cute story with a nice ending.
I am loving this book. I'm giving 5 stars even before I've read the whole thing--that's how much I'm enjoying it. This guy can write! Read this out loud to your kids :) Okay-maybe older kids.
Very fun book in the vein of Lemony Snicket but better written I think. The wordplay jokes were wonderful and the characters interesting enough to satisfy.
Fans of Milrose are in for a treat—as are educators of recalcitrant youths with a distinctly above-average intellect. The Den of Professional Help will ring a bell with those who have been afflicted with school administrators and “guidance” counselors who are of below-average skill and/or apathetic towards adolescent minds. Droll comments and a budding romance provide laugh-out-loud moments aplenty.
This series came with much hype. As is often seen with these young adult novels, it's all front end, starting from the overworked title. The story itself is about an obnoxious smart ass who is required to get professional help because he can talk to ghosts.
Brilliant Milrose Munce is an exceptional young man. At fifteen-years-old, he finds school mostly a bore, as he usually knows the material before...and much better...than the teachers. He relies on his closest friends...the gruesome, ghoulish ghosts of dead, and obviously, former students to entertain him during his educational experience. They're rather good at it, after all.
Unfortunately, Milrose's extraordinary behavior...and his habit of slapping his dead friends (invisible to everyone else) on the back and chatting amicably (to seeming nothingness) with them, has been noticed by various Powers That Be. Suddenly, Milrose's winsome, witty world is thrown off balance and he's being conscripted to the bowels of the school and relegated to endure Professional Help. A more ominous phrase Milrose Munce has never heard.
His trepidation is well placed, as he and another extraordinary student, Arabella Smith, quickly realize that Professional Help is handled nowhere near professionally, nor in any way is it to be helpful to their continued existence. Milrose Munce and Arabella Smith must hope for a far more ghoulish contingent to come to their rescue.
I loved this book. Despite being considered a young adult novel, and me being several miles past the "young" exit on life's highway, I both thoroughly enjoyed, and was consistently impressed with this smart, sharp, weird, wonderful - and gruesomely descriptive book. Oh, and it's funny, too. Genuinely, sickly, fabulously funny. Milrose was a joy of a lead character and Arabella was a fantastic sardonic counterpoint to his sarcastic point. The narrative was so intelligently written and the plot so deceptively simple that the characters were really able to shine to diamond brilliance.
I can't say enough about how much pleasure I had reading this. In point of fact, I didn't really expect it to appeal to me, but from the first sentence, and definitely the first paragraph, I was drawn in and gripped by the perfect peculiarity of it all. It was, in truth, rather difficult to look away (like a truly spectacular train wreck - but in only the best ways) from the first to the last. Cooper really showed off some impressive writing chops with this one. I'd be very interested in seeing his take on a more adult-themed novel. Taking Milrose Munce as evidence, it's quite clear his ingenuity and originality comes from a place a little left of center. It was charmingly gruesome and delightfully entertaining in every facet. I loved it.
Milrose Munce and the Den of Professional Help is a charming and humorous tale of a schoolboy who befriends the ghosts inhabiting his school. Milrose, an intelligent if somewhat sarcastic young man, is a great nerdy hero--smart, proudly unathletic and fascinated by new and strange things--the stranger the better. Unfortunately he is less than circumspect in his conversations with his ghostly friends, who remain unseen and unheard by the school staff, and he is sent to receive Professional Help along with one other classmate, Arabella who shares his peculiar affliction. The Professional Help however seems far from either professional or helpful and Milrose and Arabella learn that people who are sent there are never seen again by either the living or the dead. This is not a serious book nor is it meant to be, as evidenced by the host of wittily named ghosts who wander the corridors. If you’re looking for a scary ghost story, this isn’t it but if you appreciate a quick, light read with lots of smiles, this is well work the 99¢ price for the Kindle version.
This book is absolutely hilarious! I read quite a lot when I'm exercising at the gym, and just about laughed out loud and fell off the equipment several times while I was reading this one.
Milrose Munce is an adolescent who sees and communicates with the dead, and his school is haunted. His teachers frequently observe him talking and otherwise interacting with the air around himself, and it is determined that he needs professional help. He ends up locked away in the "den of professional help" for a month or so with a schoolmate who also sees dead people, and eventually his ghost friends rally to rescue the two of them before they are "cured."
This book is original, entertaining, and just plain funny. It's more geared toward young teenagers than adults, but I loved it. I'll definitely be recommending it to my children.
Probably should rate this half a star higher. I'm not the prime audience at my age, but I would (without hesitation) recommend this book as a good book for the younger set. Not to say that adults wouldn't enjoy it too. This adult did. I think that it is designed to appeal to young geeks, and Milrose (and his friends) do march to their own delightful drummers.
The author is Canadian and I understand that this was first offered in the US on the Kindle because he couldn't find a US publisher. I cannot help but think that U S publishers are sooooo blind. It's still not available in the US in paper but new copies can be had from 3rd party sellers on Amazon. There's also a sequel and, yeah, I'm going to buy it.
Entertaining and imaginative kids' book in the spirit of Harry Potter and to some extent, Coraline. Not sure why it's not for sale in a print edition in the US, as it seems like it'd be popular. But the fact that Amazon is giving it away for free in a Kindle edition makes me think a US print edition is coming soon. It's a well-written book (adults will also enjoy the writing) and full of humor and imagination of the sort that kids (maybe especially boys) love. The ending wrapped up a little too quickly and easily for my taste, but this book is not as detailed as, say, Harry Potter in terms of world-building, so maybe that's OK.