Book Review: Janitors School of Garbage by Tyler Whitesides

Janitors School of Garbage by Tyler Whitesides

Book Description:

Ordinary trash becomes extraordinary at the magical school of garbage—a summer school for young garbologists.

Garbage has come to life as animated creatures called junklets and are wreaking havoc in elementary schools. Only the specially trained kids from the magical School of Garbage can stop the rise of the trash monsters. With the school’s magical janitorial supplies—brooms that can fly, toilet plungers that can reverse gravity, and mops that can capture anything in their strings—the ordinary becomes extraordinary.

Landon Murphy discovers the undercover janitorial world when his soon-to-be-stepsister, Jade Shu, guides him through a magical portal at the bottom of a dumpster that leads to a fantastical landfill and the home of the School of Garbage, where she has secretly been a student for the last few years.

Problems at home with his family make it hard for Landon to feel like he belongs anywhere, but he is quickly welcomed as a student at the intriguing school for wizard-like janitors. His class on the science of garbology is like being a crime-scene investigator, and every student gets to bond with one of three Servites—small, magical animals who exhale enchanted dust to help kids focus or be creative or have energy.

Landon and Jade—along with allies from the original series—are tasked to take out the trash and figure out who—or what—is behind the mysterious garbage attacks and stop them before the entire world is literally trashed.

Collin's Review:

As it has been many years since the last story in this series, I had forgotten much of what had happened in the series up to this point. However, as I read this excellent story, I quickly got back into the story.  In this story, we get to know the next generation of young garbologists. The protagonist, Landon, and his "soon-to-be step-sister" Jade Shu have secretly joined the school of garbage, which is taught by some of the protagonists in the original series. Together they team up try to save the world from new garbage creatures out in the world attacking with garbage, called Junklets, as well as rogue Thingamajunks who are causing all sorts of havoc. This is a great story, and I learned a lot about the importance of teamwork. I highly recommend this book--especially to anyone who enjoyed the original series.

Rorie's Review:

I haven't read any of the Janitors series, but my kids all have, and loved them. I was a bit concerned that I might be lost, but thankfully this story does well as a stand- alone. I do think that reading the original series would be good though. 

Sometimes I have a hard time starting middle-grade fiction, but I'm not sure why, because I've rarely been disappointed when I do read that genre. This story grabbed my attention right away, and I took every opportunity I had to sit down and read. 

The characters were all well-written, and the story line was engaging. I think the idea of hanging out in garbage is brilliant, although extremely gross... which makes it perfect for the middle grade reader. I look forward to reading more from this author.

Title: Janitors School of Garbage
Author: Tyler Whitesides
Publisher: Shadow Mountain Publishing
Published: September 2023 
ISBN: 1639931686
Source: We received review copies from the publisher. All opinions expressed are our own. 

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