Dear Gitty Daneshvari,No.
Madeleine (fear of spiders), Theo (afraid something terrible is going to happen to his family), Lulu (fear of confined spaces), and Garrison (fear of water) are returning for a second summer at the School of Fear, quite against their wills. The children are convinced they've already been cured of their phobias, although that turns out not to be the case. They are joined by new student, Hyacinth (fear of being alone), as they...ummm, waste time for about 200 pages before trying to save their school from closing.
Yeah, I know it's a horrible summary, but I had very little to work with. I'm all sorts of upset that this ended up not being good. I thought it was going to be awesome, and got my expectations up. In full disclosure, I have not read the first School of Fear, but when I read the letter the students were sent at the beginning of the book that started out, "Much like homework, pimples, and puberty, your second summer at School of Fear is not optional." I thought, "Aha! It's going to be in that delightful Lemony Snicket style which I love! That The Mysterious Howling (Jon Klassen) did so nicely. All pithy and tongue in cheek! Fabulous!" Oh how wrong I was. It was supposed to be in that pithy, tongue in cheek style which I love. I could tell. However it failed. Hard. It was not funny. I don't think I even smiled once after that opening line.
The writing was unimpressive and repetitive. And when I say repetitive, I actually mean the same words were used over and over again. Example:
"I'm feeling a little dizzy," Theo said dramatically. "Maybe it's a brain tumor." "Seriously, Theo, relax," Garrison added before shaking his head at the dramatic boy."
You just used dramatic to describe Theo. Pick another word. This is like, 8th grade English class here. Or, how about this:
"Once out, the young girl immediately hunched over to regain her composure. The ride down the mountain had been a long and painful affair. Never mind that it was only four minutes; it felt like hours to Lulu. As the young girl breathed deeply..."
I wish I had been keeping a running tally of how many times "young girl" was used.
OK, so I was disappointed that it wasn't funny, and in that style which I really like that I had been expecting. I didn't like the writing. However, none of that was actually the main problem. The main problem was that this book wasn't about anything. It was 200 pages of waste of time, and then 100 pages of set up for the next book. The entire first part of the book is everyone wondering who's been burglarizing the School of Fear? Who could it be? Why would they want to do such a thing? Then off we go to the Boston Common to meet the supposed burglar, stopping to spend some time in jail, before we end up at a dog show of sorts to find out that the burglar was...two random people who didn't like how Mrs. Wellington was treating her dog? And who then just leave? And that's it? What? No one knows about the school, how did they know where to find this dog? Or know what she had a dog? That made no sense whatsoever, and then it was over. Oh, but Hyacinth had told some reporter at the dog show about the school and now the reporter is going to REVEAL ALL and that will be the end of the School of Fear, which the children need because they aren't over their phobias, so they must save the school. THAT actually felt like the plot, even though it didn't turn up for 200 pages. And then just as that gets going, book over, to be continued in the third one.
Where's an editor when you need one? To say, "Look, you've got some good ideas, but we need some more focus. How about the second book be about them saving the school, and think up something else entirely for the third one? Also, here, borrow my thesaurus."
School of Fear: Class is Not Dismissed came out on September 14th.
who are you to criticize someone's work when that someone has already 2 books published! Have you any books to publish? I think none!
ReplyDeleteYEAH YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELF. SCHOOL OF FEAR IS THE BEST BOOK IN THE ENTIRE WORLD. AFTER I READ IT, IT CHANGED MY LIFE. I STARTED READING MORE BOOKS. AND I THINK THAT GITTY DANESHAVARI'S BOOK SCHOOL OF FEAR: CLASS IS NOT DISMISSED SHOULD DESERVE A BETTER SUMMARY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Deleteyeah you shouldn't be rude this is actually a pretty good book
DeleteI enjoyed reading
<3 this book its awesome
DeleteAs someone who has studied and received a master’s degree in school librarianship, works in the young adult field and has read a large amount of YA literature, I feel I am qualified to differentiate between a well-written book and a book with wooden characters, poor dialogue and a weak story arc. I of course understand that there are people who will disagree with me and enjoy this book. However, on my own personal blog, I feel I have every right to express my opinion, just as you have the right to disagree with me. I do hope you actually read the book before you posted though. I have to disagree with your assessment that getting a book published somehow automatically makes you a good writer. This is unequivocally not the case.
ReplyDeleteHey Arianna, you don't have the right to disagree with someone's works of art!Last time I checked you never became an author and didn't publish any books. For your information, nobody cares if you received a master's degree! You don't have to brag about it. Just because you received a master's degree in school librarianship, doesn't mean you could be a judge! BIG WHOOP!
DeleteDear Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry you feel that we are being slanderous towards the author of School of Fear. We would never want you to think that we are actually keeping you from reading a specific book. What we are doing is giving our honest, albeit sarcastic, opinion of a book. I have no doubt in my mind that this book will do well, which is why it's been made into a series. What we are trying to do is give a different perspective that perhaps helps others not buy into a series because it follows current book trends. No, we haven't had a book published; and we do realize how difficult it can be to have it done. But I'm sure you can agree that there are some books that are not to your liking that you felt others should not read. That is what we are expressing.
As to our credentials, we are all certified school librarians with masters in library and information science. Essentially this is what we do every day with students. Give our opinions and encourage reading. I want to point out that we do encourage students to read, regardless of our personal opinions of the book. I might dislike a title, but still encourage a student to read the book because that is what he or she is interested in.
I hope this clears up any misconceptions. We never intend to make an author feel attacked or a reader belittled for a reading choice, but we will continue to give our honest opinions on books. That's what we do, we're librarians.
Wait... you're bashing a trilogy made for CHILDREN that you only read the second book from. Seems kind of harsh. Besides, the first book has a lot of funny parts in it. And on top of that, it's a trilogy. The 2nd and 3rd books usaully do that thing you mention where they are practically combinded, leaving the first book as sort of a stand-alone that you can read by itself, while you have to read books two and three together. The Hunger Games? Inkheart?
DeleteI'm sorry you feel that we are being slanderous towards the author of School of Fear. We would never want you to think that we are actually keeping you from reading a specific book. What we are doing is giving our honest, albeit sarcastic, opinion of a book. I have no doubt in my mind that this book will do well, which is why it's been made into a series. What we are trying to do is give a different perspective that perhaps helps others not buy into a series because it follows current book trends. No, we haven't had a book published; and we do realize how difficult it can be to have it done. But I'm sure you can agree that there are some books that are not to your liking that you felt others should not read. That is what we are expressing.
DeleteAs to our credentials, we are all certified school librarians with masters in library and information science. Essentially this is what we do every day with students. Give our opinions and encourage reading. I want to point out that we do encourage students to read, regardless of our personal opinions of the book. I might dislike a title, but still encourage a student to read the book because that is what he or she is interested in.
I hope this clears up any misconceptions. We never intend to make an author feel attacked or a reader belittled for a reading choice, but we will continue to give our honest opinions on books. That's what we do, we're librarians.
I hope a 3rd book is coming out
ReplyDeleteDear Librarians,
ReplyDeleteI'm only in 6th grade but I've read all of the books and these are ones you have to read in order. I think this book appeals more to different types of people. I got my entire class to read and most liked it, but I agree the language choose is some times poor.I would suggest going back and reading these books in order and reading from a point of view of a kid to see the book in a different light.
-thanks for reading this, Kenzie
Hi Kenzie,
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree that some people will like these books, and I'm glad you enjoyed them. It's great that you got everyone in your class reading! Thank you for your thoughtful comment.
-Arianna
I read this book probally best book I have ever read
ReplyDeleteI agree 100%
DeleteI hope a 4th book comes out. I LOVE School of Fear. They are awesome
ReplyDeleteGet out me car
ReplyDeleteI think that this book is amazing. So much detail! :) Thank you so much Getty Danshvari for writing the book School Of Fear. :)
ReplyDelete