Children's ✦ Penny’s Take
Strangeville School Is Totally Normal
Darcy Miller · 2021
76/100
👍 Worth It
Strangeville delivers exactly what reluctant middle grade readers need: short chapters, broad deadpan humor, and a warm message about embracing what makes you weird. Helquist's illustrations punch up every page, and Kirkus and SLJ starred reviews back up the buzz. The mystery is thin and the comedy stays surface-level, but for its audience this is a confident, fun series opener.
✦ Penny’s Take — this is The Review Group’s own editorial assessment. Penny’s analytical review line researched this book from real sources and scored it across the lenses shown below. It’s an honest first-party read — not a page-by-page personal one. The gold ✓ Penny Tested mark is reserved for books Penny reads cover to cover herself.
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Show the math
Verdict receipt0–100
safety97
substance62
craft72
originality65
accuracy75
hype68
age-fit92
human-eye74
Penny’s verdict76
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