I.R.L.
I.R.L. by Jenny Goebel is a juvenile fiction book published by Scholastic, Incorporated on February 4, 2025. This 176-page story presents a spooky tale of virtual school gone very wrong, following sixth grader Lucy as she moves to rural Alaska. Eager to escape her past and start anew, Lucy quickly discovers that her new school operates remotely during the icy months, complicating her efforts to make friends.
As Lucy engages with her small class of thirteen students through Zoom, she finds their questions about city life peculiar but dismisses them as the quirks of small-town kids. However, her excitement turns to dread when she attempts to visit the school in person, only to find an abandoned building and a cemetery with familiar names. This unsettling discovery raises questions about her new friends and the reality of her situation, leading Lucy to confront whether she is the target of a prank or if something far more sinister is at play.
Official synopsis Publisher
A spooky tale of virtual school gone very, very wrong…
Not every kid would be thrilled to move to rural Alaska, but sixth grader Lucy is eager to leave her bullies behind and start over. However, it turns out that Lucy’s new school does remote learning from October to April, when the roads become too icy to navigate safely.
Being the new kid is hard enough — how is she going to make friends when she can’t meet anyone in person?!Luckily, the sixth grade class at White Pine Secondary School is tiny (just thirteen students) and they’re all super nice and really welcoming. While chatting on zoom, they ask Lucy lots of questions about living in the big city, some of which strike Lucy as a little odd but she just chalks it up to the fact that her new classmates have spent their whole lives in a VERY small town.
As the ice starts to thaw, Lucy grows increasingly excited about meeting her new friends in person! But when she enters the school’s address on her phone’s GPS, it leads her to a crumbling, clearly abandoned building with a rotted wood sign in front — a sign that reads White Pine Secondary School. There’s nothing else in sight… except a tiny cemetery with snow-dusted headstones poking out of the frozen ground. Headstones with some very familiar names on them . . .
Lucy doesn’t know what to believe. Are her new “friends” pulling an elaborate prank? Or is truth far, far more horrifying?
Author
Publisher
Topics
FAQ
What is “I.R.L.” about?
Who is the author of “I.R.L.”?
When was “I.R.L.” published?
What is the ISBN for “I.R.L.”?
What are the book details (language, pages, edition)?
