If I were to judge a book by its cover, I'd say that this book looks awesome! I love the illustrations on the front and those that are featured at the beginning of every chapter. (Reminded me of The Mysterious Benedict Society in that instance)

Aside of the overall look, the thing I liked most about the novel was the dialogue. Very fun and witty, I laughed out loud more than once. I enjoyed the interaction between the four kids and how you see them grow and develop as the story progresses. If anything, the lovely writing kept my attention the whole way through.

But what is keeping this book below 5 (even 4) star status, in my opinion, is the ending and the overabundance of "personality".

The buildup for the ending was okay (albeit repetitive) but when push came to shove, all the entertainment was jam packed in the last 50 or so pages. And not only was the end predictable (the twist became apparent in the middle of the book) but it was also incredibly rushed, only giving us enough detail to get by. It almost seemed like chunks of it were taken out just to make it fit under 350 pages, which is unfortunate. It gave it an incomplete feel and I felt there was much that could have been elaborated on.

And when you get a story that thrives on the quirkiness of its characters and plot line, there is the off chance that you over-do the amount of quirk in the story. And School of Fear just happened to be in that category. While I appreciated the unique voice each character had, toward the middle and the end of the story, it just became a bit too much. The four kids were threatening to cross that line from quirky into annoying more than once (although, I think Theo did cross it multiple times) and Mrs. Wellington, the eccentric instructor, spent her time across that line throughout the book.

Speaking of the characters, another thing that made me somewhat detached towards the story was how hard it was identify with any of them. I found myself on the side of indifference rather than actually being involved in their lives and the journey they were on.

Lastly, the cover uses words such as "fear", "terrifying", "worse than ____" and I do feel like those are misleading. This book is far from scary, relying more on insinuating "scary" adventure instead of experiencing it.

I don't mean to come off so negative because, for the most part though, I did enjoy it. It's a cute book, even with the sometimes over-the-top characters. Gitty's writing style is simple yet enjoyable and the humor, for the most part, is really quite funny. I didn't exactly begin the book with any expectations and I think that helped my take on it. Overall consensus, it's just a fun, light read.

The ending did hint at a continuation of the series, but I haven't heard if there will be a book 2 in the near future or not. ( )

Madeleine is deadly afraid of bugs, especially spiders. Theodore is petrified of dying. Lulu is scared of confined spaces. Garrison is terrified of deep water. The parents of these twelve-year-olds are desperate for help so they send them to the exclusive School of Fear. But the kids notice that a peculiar teacher and her strange teaching style are more frightening than their phobias. This may be the scariest summer of their lives.

Although this wasn’t quite what I expected it was a very clever and quirky book. I assumed it was going to be a scary story when it was actually a story about being scared. It wasn’t any less interesting, just different. The four children came from their homes in England, New York, Rhode Island and Florida to attend the secret school in a very tiny town in Massachusetts. Their fears had taken over and affected the lives of family and friends and extreme measures had to be taken. So begins a summer of comical and mysterious adventures as they seek “treatment” from the very odd Mrs. Wellington.

The unusual children with their specific characteristics reminded me a bit of Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory or Lemony Snicket’s A Series if Unfortunate Events series. Although it’s a children’s book I enjoyed it myself and look forward to sharing this author’s debut with family. ( )

Originally reviewed for and published at www.readerviewskids.com
http://maggiesbookshelf.blogspot.com/...

There’s fear and then there’s a phobia, as the family, friends and even minor acquaintances of Madeleine Masterson, Theodore Bartholomew, Lulu Punchalower and Garrison Feldman have found out the hard way. With few options left, their parents elect to send them to the top-secret and extremely exclusive School of Fear, run by the more than slightly batty Mrs. Wellington. When their treatment turns out to be far more terrifying than their fears, the foursome realize that they are in for a very frightful summer indeed!

From the first page, this book has all the dry wit of Lemony Snicket and the delightful wackiness that you can imagine a children’s novel by Terry Pratchett might have. Though the story was slow to take off, I was enchanted by Gitty Daneshvari’s clever writing and her endearing, albeit highly caricatured, protagonists.

One bone to pick, though, was how detached the story felt—I was never racing through it like I did for “A Series of Unfortunate Events” even though in some ways it’s a better book (certainly less depressing). However clever a book is, it needs some empathy to make it work, and despite how cute and funny the characters in “School of Fear” were they were not as likable or relatable as the ones in Snicket’s series. It also could have done with some editorial streamlining to get rid of the long and mostly irrelevant buildup to going to the school. I would have rather seen more action within School of Fear’s walls than hear about the foursome’s escapades outside of them.

Despite those relatively minor flaws, fans of the emerging genre of creepy-crawly comedy will definitely not want to miss this one. After reading the back cover blurb I was anticipating a much more frightening read than it actually was, so horror fans will probably be disappointed if they pick it up in a bookstore; but scaredy-cats like me will be able to laugh at the protagonists’ predicaments almost 100% scare-free. The fear factor certainly doesn’t approach the levels of the “Harry Potter” novels or even some of the tamer list toppers like “Twilight” and Rick Riordan’s “Olympians” series. I’d say that kids as young as eight or nine would be able to enjoy it.

All in all, it’s a witty, funny and extremely enjoyable read for the phobic within us all that is sure to be a huge hit with the middle grade and younger teen crew. Gitty Daneshvari is definitely an author to watch!

The Final Verdict: Not particularly engrossing for older teens, but fun and giggles for middle grade readers abound in this offbeat, witty novel. ( )

"School of Fear" is a very unique and funny tale aimed at children 9-12 years of age. My son is a good reader and ten years old but I am not sure if this book would hold is attention because it is fairly long and there some innuendos and witty banter I don't know if he would understand. "School of Fear" is the tale of four 12 to 13 year old kids who come from all differnt parts of the globe. The one thing they share is that they all have an over the top phobia. Their parents are ready to take extreme action and send them off for a summer at the "School of Fear". No one knows much about the school. They keep things pretty well hidden and clients must take a secrecy oath. What the kids find in the school is interesting and clever. The book isn't scary and doesn't have any form of paranormal aspects. While the kids feel like the events they experience are out of this world, really every thing is well explained later. The book has a twist at the end, and its a good twist, but one I had mostly figured out for myself. Kids should be suprised by the ending. This book was definitely worth the read and I found it entertaining. However, the book is long yet not long enough. The end of the story felt very rushed. The story starts at a nice pace, detailing each of the children and the events that lead them to the school. Once they get to the school things move too quickly. When the ending comes, it feels like not enough attention has been paid to it. As the kids each experience their big confrontation with their fears, it seems like not enough emphasis is placed on it. Still a good read, and if you have a reader in the targeted range, this would be a good book to point in their direction. ( )