Reporters for an experimental middle school's student newspaper face an ethical dilemma when they uncover a shocking secret about their eccentric principal that could tarnish the reputation of their beloved Kaboom Academy if revealed. - (Baker & Taylor)

In a story by a writer and producer for such programs as Rugrats, nine misfits from the staff of an alternative middle school's newspaper make astonishing discoveries about how Kaboom Academy really works, and who is actually in charge. - (Baker & Taylor)

*Now available in paperback with a brand new title: Kaboom Academy!* 

“Graduates of Wayside School will fit right in at the decidedly unconventional Kaboom Academy.” —Kirkus Reviews
 
Forget everything you know about middle school while reading “this amusing and lighthearted story [that] pokes fun at traditional education, while celebrating nonconformity, individuality, and even oddity” (School Library Journal).
 
A new middle school has just opened in Horsemouth, New Hampshire: Kaboom Academy. It’s a place where cannons go off in the middle of school assemblies, pills contain actual information, and multiplication is made, er, real. (Read: You ever wonder what it would be like if there were two of you? How about four? How about eight? Well, you’re about to find out!) The school’s new students—and the Journalism 1A class in particular—can’t believe all the shenanigans that go on. Who’s really in charge of this groundbreaking academy for boys and girls who’ve fallen out of love with learning? And what does it mean to “blow up the model for middle school”?

 A 2015 Children's Choice 


From the Hardcover edition. - (Random House, Inc.)

MAIYA WILLIAMS was editor and vice president of the Harvard Lampoon and a writer/producer for TV shows including Rugrats, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and Mad TV.  She is the author of a time travel trilogy that includes the critically acclaimed books The Golden Hour, Hour of the Cobra, and Hour of the Outlaw. She lives with her husband, three children, two dogs, two guinea pigs, and a variety of fish in Pacific Palisades, California. - (Random House, Inc.)

Booklist Reviews

Kaboom Academy Middle School is decidedly unusual. Cannon fire alerts students to the end of classes, dodgeballs have teeth, and the lunch lady may be a witch. Author Williams (The Fizzy Whiz Kid, 2010) brings readers the surreal story of an experimental school housed in a former mental institution, where students have been hand-selected by flamboyant founder Dr. Marcel Kaboom to combat what he calls the prisonlike atmosphere of traditional schools. Kaboom's top-secret teaching techniques include books in pill form and a multiplication table that multiplies whatever is placed upon it, including students. Nine misfit seventh-graders from Journalism 1A class reveal the idiosyncrasies of the Kaboom Academy curriculum and faculty through the stories they report for the school paper, the Daily Dynamite. Working together they uncover the truth about Kaboom Academy, including the biggest secret of all: who is Dr. Kaboom? The quirky characters, outlandish situations, funny dialogue, and fast-paced action disguise Williams' sometimes heavy-handed messages about the public school system. Middle-grade readers, though, will likely demand further adventures. Copyright 2014 Booklist Reviews.

Horn Book Guide Reviews

The journalism students of unconventional Kaboom Academy investigate the school's mysterious founder for answers to unexplained phenomena such as flying dodgeballs, hypnotherapy detentions, and a potion-brewing lunch lady. The could-be stock characters show unexpected depth, while the oddball environment, humor, and mystery make this a perfect fit for fans of Wayside School stories. Cartoon spot art adds verve.

Kirkus Reviews

Graduates of Wayside School will fit right in at the decidedly unconventional Kaboom Academy. The Academy is located in a former mental situation, staffed in part by former patients and dedicated to making students fall "madly in love with learning!" It offers literary classics in easy-to-swallow pill form, games of dodgeball in which the balls vigorously throw themselves, loud gongs and cannon fire instead of bells, and character-building lunches sprinkled with "curiosity," "honesty" and other "spices of life." The school also has a journalism class of nine young investigative reporters—including legally blind photographer Leo and telepathic former conjoined twins Aliya and Taliya—determined to winkle out all of the Academy's secrets. Williams weighs her episodic tale down with detailed expositions of the central cast's unhappy pasts and troubled domestic situations, as well as heavy-handed axe grinding in repeated rants against the boring, pointless, time-wasting experience of going to normal school. Nevertheless, the mix of out-and-out magic with far-fetched but logical twists creates an enjoyably surreal romp. Also, the author shows a knack for wacky inventions, from those book pills to the climactic arrival of an Invisiblimp. Middle schoolers will clamor for a transfer. (Fantasy. 10-12)

School Library Journal Reviews

Gr 4–7—When an experimental new school opens in the town of Horsemouth, several parents are desperate enough to enroll their children in spite of the secretive—and frankly peculiar—vibe given off by the school's headmaster. Kaboom Academy does indeed prove to be highly unconventional, brimming with experimental educational practices in which the children are the guinea pigs. Wacky inventions abound, like autonomous dodgeballs, and a "multiplication table" that is literally a table—one that creates multiple copies of any object placed on top of it, including people. This school is anything but boring, as its student body, made up of misfits who have each been deemed unteachable in one way or another, soon discovers. Prompted by journalism class, the students begin to dig up the school's strange and disturbing secrets. The book's chapters often open with student newspaper articles investigating various odd or mysterious happenings. Among other things, the kids find that their school building used to be a psychiatric facility, and that several of its patients remain as teachers. This amusing and lighthearted story pokes fun at traditional education, while celebrating nonconformity, individuality, and even oddity. It takes the premise that middle school is a crazy experience at baseline, and runs with it. The overall goofiness, as well as the cartoony illustrations, make it a good choice for younger middle schoolers.—Emma Burkhart, Springside School, Philadelphia, PA