Curse of the Werewolf Boy

Best friends Mildew and Sponge are not happy to be back at Maudlin Towers for a new term – gym teacher Mr Stupendo keeps making them run up mountains and they're getting a hard time from fellow student Kenningworth.

But that's just the start of it as very strange things begin to happen – from the theft of the prestigious School Spoon to the arrival of a potential ghost in the attic and, perhaps most surprising of all, the fact that history teacher Mr Luckless is suddenly not boring.

It's down to Mildew and Sponge to do their best detecting and figure out just what is happening at Maudlin Towers in this raucous adventure that takes in mind-bending time travel, werewolves and even a rogue Viking wandering around the school's ha-ha. Yes, ha-ha.

Chris Priestley embraces the silly in this witty, laugh-out-loud school story. Constantly ridiculous and full of fun word-play and nonsense, Curse of the Werewolf Boy is a joy to read and will have both children and adults sniggering. But it's also impressively tightly plotted, unspooling like all the best mysteries – just in a very unusual, original and offbeat way.