Olivia Kidney and the Exit Academy

I fell in love with Olivia Kidney the first chapter I read of the first book. I was lucky enough to be the one asked to illustrate Ellen's fantastic world she has created. I agree with other reviewers that the story can be appreciated by adults as well. It is haunting and moving. I often describe this series as "Alice in Wonderland set in NYC, with a hint of Stephen King with a dash of Touched by an Angel." Weird and wonderful. There IS in fact a movie in the works... stay tuned on Ellen Potter's website. A third book is also in the works - I am glad! Meanwhile I am busy on the Judy Moody series, as well as sequels to my books The Dot and Ish. My site has info on all my projects as well.

This is such a good book, I feel it would be a waste to aim it at children only; neither do I think that children will understand all the many nuances, the richness and fullness of Ellen Potter's mixture of reality hardships, life and death issues, imagination and philosophical ideas. Off course, this is why this is such a good children book - because it has so many layers and can be experienced differently at every age. "Olivia Kidney" was such a surprise, both wonderful and painful at the same time. This book is the second in what (hopefully) becomes a series and is no less interesting or elevating then the first. In fact I do believe that Ellen Potter outdid herself and reached new heights... I sound a little pompous but besides truly loving the book I feel the author also bravely dealt with a difficult issue. The main story is about Olivia and her father, moving, once again, to a new place. Olivia is used to this routine but she never expected to arrive to such an amazing house and to meet such strange people. Olivia and her father arrive at the house of Ansel Pover and his assistant, the lovely Nora, but this is only the cover to several side stories entangled into a wide tale with some very coherent messages. Great characters (some of whom we met in the previous book) join Olivia in her journey to understand... In the first book Olivia reaches some sort of acceptance with the death of her beloved brother Christopher through a very painful process involving contact with the other world. In this second book Ellen Potter chose a very direct approach to the issue of death itself. Death is a major issue here and it is not hushed aside but dealt with from many angels. From the adult side, all the ideas about death and the ways to prepare for death sound very right and wanted and it is only too bad we cannot adopt them into our lives. The book proceeds in a manner that makes you think about it in a different way every step of the way. A good example would be the show Olivia watches, about the bear attacking the woman which was perceived by me as an ironical and comical tale about the relationship of an unfit couple. The ending was understood as a sort of awful "punishment" the wife receives for dragging her husband to the woods; then the story moves on and we now know this was only a death rehearsal and our whole perception changes. I found this book to be very comforting and lovely in the sense that it looks death directly in the eye and makes it less intimidating. Ellen Potter has created all the technical devices to help you struggle: the animal, the repetitions, the preparations. I loved the idea of a death script that needs to be rehearsed We can only hope that Ellen Potter knows more then us and some of what she tells about is true.

Ms. Potter has done it again. Exit Academy is a wonderful sequel to a first-rate tale of a young girl growing up in New York City. Right from the start you are whisked off into the realm of the supernatural, where things are most definitely not what they seem (a good lesson for all of us to bear in mind). Exit Academy is hilarious, scary and flows beautifully. Ms. Potter has an excellent command of characterization, too; her characters are fascinating and distinct, and like the first novel, we want to see more of them. (She does in fact bring back a character from the first book, and expands its history.) Ms. Potter has a writing style that is unique, entrancing, and does not shy away from real-world truth. I highly recommend this to children and adults alike. So when's the movie coming out?