Books Jonelle Made Me Read – 4 – HECK: Where The Bad Kids Go

Series Introduction

In this occasional series, I will be discussing books that a teenage girl (soon to be a fourteen-year-old), Jonelle, instructed me to read. And when I say "instructed me to read," of course I mean "commanded me to read." For those of you who don't know her, she is a highly intelligent, sweet, precocious and fairly bossy young lady.

A large part of the reason why I read this book, and the other works that will be discussed in this blog series, is that I want to understand how teenagers think. These posts will not be a review of the book per se as much as an exploration of my random thoughts on the book.

How did I get myself into this?

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"Now, now, Cerberus," she cooed. "They always smell like that at first."

Milton nervously cleared his throat. "So is this . . . you know . . . he—?"

Principal Bubb shook her swollen claw at Milton. "There will be none of that potty mouth down here. Or course this isn't . . . that place. You're in Heck."

Marlo leaned forward, her brow knit. "Heck? What the . . ."

Bea "Elsa" Bubb glowered. Her–inky black pupils adrift in a pus-yellow sea–glowed like fanned embers.

". . . heck," Marlo faltered, "is Heck?"

Bea "Elsa" Bubb smiled coldly and clasped her claws together.

"Rather like an h-e-double-hockey-sticks for children," she said. "Heck is where the souls of the darned toil for all eternity–or until they turn eighteen, whichever comes first."

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Books Jonelle Made Me Read

Heck: Where the Bad Kids Go (2008) by Dale E. Basye.

Old Sins Cast Long Shadows is very pleased and proud to announce that this episode of "Books Jonelle Made Me Read" is the first – hopefully far from the last – collaborative effort. Co-Authorship credit of this post is shared with Miss Jonelle herself!

Now, things become interesting . . .

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Heck: Where the Bad Kids Go is the first part in a projected nine-part series (ennealogy), Nine Circles of Heck, by Dale E. Basye.

This work is a charming, whimsical and weirdly educational re-telling of Dante's Inferno. It is almost as if Dr. Seuss collaborated with Stephen King to produce this book and series. Seven of the nine parts have been published to date. The eighth is complete and, according to the author, trapped in the "limbo" between publishing houses.

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The center piece of Dante's Inferno is the image of Hell that is presented. Dante's Hell is made up of nine layers or circles. Each circle focused on tormenting those damned souls guilty of a particular category of sin.

	Hell name	Heck name	Heck tagline
1st Circle	Limbo	Limbo	First place where kids arrive after they die, where their souls are weighed and assessed.
2nd Circle	Lust	Rapacia	Where the greedy kids go.
3rd Circle	Gluttony	Blimpo	Where the hungry kids go.
4th Circle	Greed	Fibble	Where the lying kids go.
5th Circle	Anger	Snivel	Where the whiny kids go.
6th Circle	Heresy	Precocia	Where the smarty-pants go.
7th Circle	Violence	Wise Acres	Where the sassy kids go.
8th Circle	Fraud	Sadia	Where the bullies go.
9th Circle	Treachery	Dupli-City	Where the back-stabbing kids go.

The image below provides a good visual representation of Dante's Hell as well as describing the sins and corresponding torments.

http://somnium-maris.deviantart.com/art/Dante-s-Inferno-Map-377156776

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So much for literary background.

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The Nine Circles of Heck series follows the adventures of a young brother and sister; the good but scheming brother, Milton, and the rebellious and scheming sister, Marlo. As a result of a freak accident, they both end up in Heck. A young audience can relate to this book, in part, because Milton is put into situations where he has to come up with plans to get his friend-from-Hell, Virgil, as well as Marlo out of trouble and back home. And just as often, he is overruled by Marlo who believes she knows best how to get back home.

A favorite feature of the book were teachers who were people that a YA audience would actually know. Life in Heck is basically school 24/infinity. So, there are classes like Ethics, Physical Education and Home Ec. For teachers, they have Richard Nixon, Blackbeard the Pirate and Lizzie Borden. Even the school principal is Bea "Elsa" Bubb . . .

Get it? Bea "Elsa" Bubb . . . Beelzebub.

It was interesting how these teachers reacted to the children, as well as the situations they were put in by the students (i.e. Marlo and Milton). For example, in chapter 12, Milton is a student in an Ethics class taught by Richard Nixon. During the class, Milton brings up Watergate. President Nixon starts freaking out, exclaiming "I was NOT a crook." This scene was quite humorous even though a YA audience might be forgiven for not knowing much about Watergate.

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Even though this book is suited more for a young audience, it was both interesting and amusing for a YA and an adult reader.

Heck: Where the Bad Kids Go is sincerely recommended.

We at Old Sins Cast Long Shadows and Miss Jonelle look forward to continuing this series with the next volume: Rapacia: The Second Circle of Heck.

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