Review by New York Times Review
WHO CAN RESIST a good boarding school novel? The literary tradition dates back as far as the mid-19th-century "Tom Brown's School Days," by Thomas Hughes, and Frances Hodgson Burnett's 1905 classic, "A Little Princess." These beloved stories shunt the parents aside without (necessarily) killing them off, leaving children to discover their own mettle. Two new boarding school tales for middle-grade readers offer fresh approaches - one whimsical and magical with a dose of gentle social satire, the other a whodunit of sorts, with a taste of international intrigue. "Ms. Rapscott's Girls," by Elise Primavera, begins with an advertisement for an unusual institution: the Great Rapscott School for Girls of Busy Parents. The school, it announces, accepts only the daughters of "the busiest parents in the entire world." Parents are assured that the program will cover "everything your daughter needs to know that you are too busy to teach her!" In a wordless sequence of elegant pencil drawings of a lighthouse, we see Ms. Rapscott keeping lookout with her two corgis, Lewis and Clark, for the arrival of five 8-year-old girls, all in postage-paid boxes. Each is a different child-rearing disaster - one is so neglected she's taken to constant shouting, another to watching TV all day. But it's Ms. Rapscott herself who may be the book's greatest strength, especially her willingness to confide in the girls that she was once in their shoes, with parents too busy to take care of her properly. Combining a can-do spirit with a hint of Mary Poppins, she gives the girls assignments like, "Get Lost on Purpose." Her goal is to give them everything they need to care for themselves - not just survival skills, but also the knowledge of such things as wishbones, birthday cakes and thank-you notes. Soon enough, each girl begins to exercise new muscles, physically and psychologically. And what about those overbusy parents? By keeping the satire broad, Primavera seems less to be judging than to be suggesting that sometimes, another adult must step in and coax out the talents that parents overlook. Unlike Ms. Rapscott, the headmistress of Knight's Haddon in "The Girl With the Glass Bird" believes that her charges are best protected by keeping the world at arm's length, starting with the driveway to the school, which is so long that upon arrival 11-year-old Edie has "a strange sense of being lost." Orphaned and poor, Edie is at Knight's Haddon under false pretenses. A Russian prince is paying her tuition so she can find out whether his daughter, Anastasia, is misplacing her valuables or is the victim of a cruel joke. The British author Esme Kerr has fashioned a claustrophobic atmosphere worthy of an Agatha Christie novel. At every turn, Edie finds a teacher or matron monitoring her. But the skills Edie acquired while aiding her blind Babka make her a keen observer, and well qualified for the mission of spying on behalf of the prince. Kerr plays up the economic divide between Edie and her privileged classmates, showing the cruelty that arises from petty jealousies and unwitting remarks. Yet Edie finds solace in the academics, the meals, the camaraderie among the girls. She is surprised to discover how much she likes Anastasia - and she's horrified to uncover a far darker plot against Anastasia than even the prince had suspected. One by one, Edie decides whether she can trust the people around her. Even the headmistress, Miss Fotheringay, whom she grows to admire, falls under Edie's suspicions. Edie knows that as much as she's come to think of Knight's Haddon as home, the only way to protect Anastasia is to take her away from it. Realizing she might never return, Edie feels "a sudden well of grief, not for what she was leaving, but for what she thought she had found." Isn't that what growing up is all about? These books explore an ambivalent first taste of independence, and readers will readily identify with their brave heroes. JENNIFER M. BROWN is the director of the Center for Children's Literature at the Bank Street College of Education and the children's editor for Shelf Awareness. She blogs at TwentybyJenny.
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [May 10, 2015]
Review by Booklist Review
When orphaned Edie meets her distant cousin Charles, she's been living with her aunt and horrible cousins. So when Charles offers to hire her to spy on a Russian prince's daughter, Anastasia, at Knight's Haddon boarding school, she hastily agrees. Watching over Anastasia is harder than she expects, however, because, even though she is desperate to go to school, Knight's Haddon is far stricter than Edie hoped. The teachers are secretive and harsh, and Edie's role as servant and secret spy means she can't get involved with the other girls and activities. She is there to find out what's been troubling Anastasia, and as she investigates their fellow students, the mystery gets incredibly twisty. Is Anastasia crazy, or is there more to Knight's Haddon than it appears? Kerr's quaint style at times feels more like historical fiction, so some readers may find the modern setting a bit jarring. Nevertheless, this is a rich, fun mystery that will likely hook young readers. Fans of Edie will be happy to know a sequel is in the works.--Comfort, Stacey Copyright 2015 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Kerr's suspenseful British-boarding-school mystery is full of secrets, murky characters, and psychological intrigue. Ever since 11-year-old Edie's blind grandmother, who has cared for her following her parents' death, was forced into a nursing home, Edie has been living miserably at Folly Farm with her nasty cousins. This changes when her unpleasant uncle, godfather to Russian princess Anastasia Stolonov, plants Edie at an old-fashioned, excessively strict boarding school for girls as an undercover spy to discover who is tormenting the princess. Is Anastasia paranoid? Or simply careless? It's sharp-eyed Edie's assignment to find out. Despite her uncle's warning to avoid growing close to the princess, the girls quickly bond. With several fellow students and a trio of adults as plausible suspects, an ambiance of growing mistrust permeates the novel; it's deepened by mounting questions about the nature of the headmistress's connection to Edie's late mother. Set among skirmishes on the lacrosse field, forbidden midnight feasts in dormitory rooms, play rehearsals, and tea outings, the story keeps readers puzzling past its riveting climax, all the way to its gratifying conclusion. Ages 8-12. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 4-7-Edie Wilson is a thoroughly unhappy child. An orphan whose grandmother has just moved to a nursing home, she is sent to live with her inattentive aunt and vicious cousins. Edie sees no escape until Cousin Charles shows up. Her aunt's brother, he's no blood relation, but he does happen to be looking for a child her exact age to go on an undercover mission to her mother's old boarding school, Knights Haddon. Her job is to befriend a young Russian aristocrat named Anastasia and determine whether the girl is being terrorized or if she is completely insane. Edie discovers the truth surrounding Anastasia is far more complicated, and dangerous, than she could possibly have imagined. Katey Sobey's narration is excellent, neatly delineating the children from the adults and somehow managing to give unique voices to all the residents of the all-girls school. VERDICT Though some of the loose threads wrap up a bit too neatly at the end of the story, most listeners will eagerly clamor for the anticipated sequel and return to the world of Knights Haddon. ["Charming without being particularly engaging": SLJ 12/14 review of the Scholastic book.]-Michaela Schied, Indian River Middle School, Philadelphia, NY © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
First in a series, this modern British boarding-school story has a classic feel. Orphaned Edie is sent to remote Knight's Haddon, a traditional all-girls boarding school, to spy on Princess Anastasia, whose things suddenly disappear and reappear. Is Anastasia going mad, or is something sinister going on? Multidimensional characters and themes of bravery and loyalty drive the suspenseful story. (c) Copyright 2015. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
After watching her vicious cousin kill her pet goldfishand cook it!orphan Edie is more than willing to be sent to a girls' boarding school to act as a spy.Anastasia, a wealthy Russian princess (but not the famous one), is either being ruthlessly harassed or she's melodramatically creating a series of situations in which she appears to be the victim. Her father wants to know which, and embedding Edie at the school seems like the perfect way to find out. But the challenges are nearly insurmountable in this atmospheric mystery. Portentous clues abound, and Edie is forced to re-evaluate her first guess that an angry student is responsible for Anastasia's woes. She becomes increasingly suspicious of staff members, and each adult's actions begin to take on plausible second meanings. With no responsible person to trust, tension swiftly ratchets upward. A strong British flavor pervades the tale, but many American readers will be familiar with the language and ideas from other imports. The third-person narration effectively conveys both Edie's spunky attitude and her sense of isolation; Anastasia is less well-developed, but leaving her a bit inscrutable serves to enhance the mystery. A secondary plotline that emergesan uncertain connection between the headmistress and Edie's motheradds enticing red herrings. A fine mystery that will keep readers engaged until the final, scary revealand leave them eager for the next volume in the series. (Mystery. 11-14) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
