Horrid High I

“For Mr and Mrs Gottin, parenting is an experiment gone badly wrong.”

If eleven-year-old Ferg Gottin had been bought from a store, his parents would have returned him and demanded a refund.

At the world’s most horrid school, everything is downright horrid, from Chef Gretta’s cooking to Master Mynus’ truly mental maths classes. But Ferg finds four friends with extraordinary skills — deft pickpocket Fermina Filch; Phil Fingersmith, in whose able hands any lock falls apart; Mesmer Martin, who can hypnotize anyone; and mimic artist Immy Tate.

When Ferg stumbles upon Principal Perverse’s Grand Plan to send horrid teachers out into the world, the children set out to teach their teachers a suitably horrid lesson — with a little help from a tomboy, a school inspector with a conscience, and a planet-saving grandma called Granny Grit.