The School for Dangerous Girls by Eliot Schrefer
The plot: a bad girl (who really isn't all that bad) is sent to a reform school by remote, tired, and stoic parents sick of the misbehavior of their offspring. The story reminded me a bit of Lord of the Flies - kids on their own without adult supervision and protection. The setting, however, was not a deserted island where children were alone and left to run amok, but was a boarding school managed by unscrupulous administrators and psychologists, etc. The girls are allowed to treat each other according to whim at the behest of their therapists and other school mates. Those in charge punish the girls for infractions by various methods including locking one girl in a freezer or putting them in solitary confinement in a basement.
The story breaks down when, after misbehavior, Angela is taken from her place as golden thread and abandoned in the realm of the purple thread girls - the ones that can't be rehabilitated. These abandoned girls are housed in a hidden gymnasium where they are left to their own devices. After Angela joins them, they become "organized" and have some turf wars, attempt to get evidence of wrongdoings, experience some additional page wasting antics, and then, as you might expect, have a nicely wrapped up, but not completely pulled together, happy ending. Recommendation: Yawn............
2 comments:
Not dangerous girls at a dangerous girls school? seems like a boring book. The part about civilizing a gym full of terrible people seems like it would be interesting though
I just checked this book out today. This review is going to save me a lot of trouble! I am definitaly going to return this book.
Post a Comment