Fovea Munson has been called "Igor" by everyone at school since her ex best friend told everyone that Fovea's parents work in a morgue. When her summer camp plans get canceled, her parents enthusiastically give her a summer job working as a receptionist in their lab. Fovea is less than thrilled, however, because she has no interest in becoming a doctor like her parents. One day, when Fovea is in the lab alone, she hears weird sounds. Investigating, she discovers three disembodied heads on a shelf that appear to be thawing. If this isn't shocking enough, all three begin talking and ask a favor of her. Before she knows it, Fovea is corralled into planning a late-night misadventure with her new friend Howe, her ex-friend Em, her not-so-helpless grandma Van, and a motorized scooter's basket full of talking heads. In her hilarious debut, Heider has crafted a unique plot interweaving gory bits dripping in pun-filled humor and a realistic tween-age drama about losing friends and finding oneself. This one's bound to have wide appeal.

In this lively middle grade caper, a 12-year-old girl has the experience of a lifetime when she reluctantly serves as summer receptionist for her parents- cadaver lab, where doctors experiment on, and learn from, corpses. Fovea isn-t eager to be associated with the creepy business, especially since her classmates already call her Igor and make body-part jokes. Things take a turn for the outlandish when she discovers a trio of talking heads, and then things

Gr 5-8 Poor Fovea Munson. Life is hard in seventh grade when your parents own a cadaver lab and your classmates know that your parents work revolves around dead bodies. And it doesn't help that Fovea is stuck working in the lab this summer because her camp plans fell through. When three thawed heads start talking to Fovea, though, her summer gets a whole lot more interesting. As it turns out, these heads need a handand Fovea may be the only one who can help them. Heider's tale is darkly comic and wholly original. Despite the gruesome premise, this is more comedy than horror. VERDICT Highly recommended for kids who like fantasy, science fiction, and light horror. Destined to be a popular summer reading selection. Mitchell Berman, Zion-Benton Public Library, IL