Fourteen-year-old Peter Green can’t remember how he died. All he has are his pajamas, a silk tie, and a one-way bus ticket to Mrs. Battisworth’s Academy and Haven for Unliving Boys and Girls, a strange and spooky school for dead orphans like himself. But that’s all he needs: the Unliving Academy has everything, from vampires in the hallways, to monsters in the cafeteria, to ghosts in the basement. cafeteria, to ghosts in the basement.
And that’s just the teachers; the students are far stranger.
As Pete learns to fit in with his new supernatural schoolmates, he starts to discover his own uniquely undead abilities, and even begins enjoying his life after death…but he just can’t shake the feeling that he’s forgotten something (or somebody!) important.
Somebody he left behind in the land of the living.
Somebody he loved very much.
Somebody who’s in terrible danger.
Peter Green and the Unliving Academy is the captivating first installment of Angelina Allsop’s Unliving series of young adult fantasy novels. If you like reading about fun-filled adventures, fully realized new worlds, and the most unlikely of heroes, you’re sure to love Allsop’s spirited coming-of-age tale.
Fans of Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling, the Charlie Bone Series by Jenny Nimmo, and The Nightmare Before Christmas by Tim Burton will enjoy this young adult fantasy series.
You’ll love the Peter Green series if you like reading these types of books:
- Young adult and YA fantasy novels
- Ghosts, zombies, and mythical beasts
- Young adult adventure stories
more
So I was looking for something different, something to get me out of a funk and this book has most definitely achieved that. With the Academy feel of Harry Potter and the crazy action of Percy Jackson, Peter Green and the Unliving Academy has earned its rightful place among my favorite books.
Pete is easy to relate to, bit awkward and can’t talk to girls without forgetting his name. And memory is one of his main issues, he’s forgotten something important but doesn’t know why. The clues are scarce and he has to rely on instinct and the sporadic visions of a girl with brown eyes he wants to keep safe.
Fortunately, he makes friends with unique skills who help him navigate this new life, and he starts feeling more alive than ever even though he’s technically dead.
A charming book with a unique world and endearing characters that made me laugh and cry. I can’t wait to see what comes next for Pete and company.
Fans of Lemony Snicket and other authors of fantasy/horror for young readers will enjoy this quirky tale of the Unliving Academy, where the staff are supernatural beings and the students are all, well, dead. Turns out, death and the afterlife are not exactly what one might have imagined, as Peter finds out when he arrives suddenly — with no memories of what happened to him. He has no memories whatever. Soon, however, Peter has nightmares about a girl he feels is his little sister, who is in danger of being murdered. Peter struggles with adjusting to a new school, new unliving friends and enemies, and the quest to recover his file of memories in time to save his younger sister’s life. The students and teachers are funny, scary, and definitely original, and Peter is a totally likable hero. Readers young and old will enjoy this adventure and will eagerly await a sequel.
What a fun novel. Peter Green and the Unliving Academy follows young Peer as he wakes up in the afterlife with no memory of how he got there or of who he was or what his life had been like when he was alive. He is a curious character, one who is interesting in finding out who he was before his death and how he got to be in the Afterlife in pajamas and a tie. He is a very respectful character with an adventurous spirit, a character that young readers are going to be able to connect with. There are also his friends as well, some of which are older than himself, but only because they have been dead longer, and some who are new just like him. They are a great knit of characters all of whom balance each other wonderfully. They have different opinions, but they are fun and lighthearted and care deeply about one another in their short time that they learn about each other.
There are some pacing issues with the story as it does falter around chapter 8, but that is only for a little while. It is not that there is anything wrong with the storytelling and narrative; it is just at these points, where the story sort of comes to a stop, the Allsop focuses on world building. It is an exciting world the Afterlife, and Allsop is very respectful in the way she brings it to life, giving it a deeper paranormal edge, but at these points, character development and personality come to a stop.
Overall though, it is a sweet, albeit, sad story, after all, it is about a child who died, but it is a sweet story to share with children, that parents and family can share with kids because the imagination is there. There is a level of comfort and adventure in the narrative and world building that shows readers, no matter the age, that life continues, just in a different way.