Here, and only here

First published in France, this is one strange book about a strange school called only Here, inhabited by some strange preteen students. Consider: Madeleine, a "chosen," a guru with modest miraculous powers; Pierre, who murdered a classmate who's now haunting him; Iris, who has become invisible; and The Prince, who by choice, occupies the seat in the very center of the room, smoking a joint, unchallenged as the other students, forbidden to look directly at him, obey his every command. The Prince offers to swap places with Guy, who is fascinated by Sofie, the girl from abroad with a unibrow who tells him she loves him. Every Thursday at 2:28, a mysterious substance called The Schmoil flows--presaging Armageddon?--observed by members of the Top Secret Club. The substitute teacher, a former student at Here--who has a surprising alternative identity--observes all of this cyclical activity. The book's point of view shifts among four students--Madeleine, Pierre, Iris, and Guy--in vignettes that move the action briskly. The kids' stories are fascinating, delving sometimes into the obscure; half the fun of this enticingly peculiar book is trying to tease out meanings. While not for every reader, the novel will appeal to those who enjoy something radically different.

Secondary school can be a nightmare, and that's particularly true of a macabre school governed by peculiar social rules and supernatural machinations in this novel translated from French. The story follows four students, each feeling like outcasts in their own ways. First-year Iris abandons her childhood friend in his time of need and suffers the consequences. Pierre, the odd one out who's without a partner to share his desk in a class of 27 students, is violently bullied and ostracized. Madeleine feels insecure and ascribes mystical powers to herself. Guy is paired with a new girl in class and starts to question the tyrannical rule of the prince who dominates his class. Meanwhile, a small cabal of students who call themselves the Top-Secret Club meet to discuss the underlying cause of the school's peculiarities, which they ascribe to the schmoil, a supernatural substance in the pipes. All of this is a metaphor for the isolating perils of existing as an adolescent within the social trappings of schools that so often operate according to elaborate, cliquish, and downright indecipherable social conventions. This is well-trodden territory, and this iteration feels particularly impenetrable. The prose is clunky, and the circumstances of the characters feel so odd that they nearly obscure the familiar emotions of loneliness, isolation, and insecurity that readers might otherwise find relatable. A dense fever dream that's not for the faint of heart. (Paranormal. 13-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.