Story Time

Ever suspect that there's something demonic at the heart of the standardized testing movement? Join Kate and her two-years-younger uncle George as they enter the Whitaker Magnet School, a mysterious place that recruits the best test takers from surrounding school districts to earn the school more tax money by training them to excel even further on tests.

I thought this was a great satire of the public education system in America, today. The story was full of intelligent humor, mocking many of the mandates of our educational system. I especially liked the incorporation of the ghost story...subtly hinting at how spooky the "demons" of the library and free-thought can be. Loved it! This story has much to offer to the reader who likes to dig into the deeper thoughts revealed in a good satire.

I was a bit hesitant about picking up this book. I adored Tangerine, but Crusader was so bad I didn't know if I could trust the author again. I'm glad I picked up the book anyway, because Story Time is a wonderful book. His depiction of education today is spot on, and is also very funny. AFter the one-dimensional characters in Crusader, I was overjoyed to see well-rounded and sympathetic ones here. I can say now that Bloor has won me back as a fan.

first line: "Kate was flying. She was thinking beautiful thoughts, and she was flying."

This is part children's horror story, part satire on the standardized-test-based approach to education. Not too surprisingly, the human villains are more despicable than the supernatural ones.

This struck me as what would happen if Lemony Snicket wrote a book with a more realistic setting and plot. And, um, with demons. And standardized testing. And superweapons. So I guess it's maybe not so realistic at all. But it still had a certain Lemony Snicket-esque vibe in the wordplay and the sarcasm.

Ah, hell. I can't be articulate. I liked it. It was good.

When Kate’s uncle George, the genius, is accepted to the Whittaker Magnet school, Kate is forced to attend, too. The students at the military- like Whittaker have the highest standardized test scores in the nation, because that is all they do each day, all day long. Since Kate is of normal intelligence, her test scores cause her to be picked on by the school’s founders and the faculty.
While Kate plots a way of escaping the school, students and teachers alike begin to behave erratically. Some are even dying. Kate and George know they must discover the cause of these episodes of apparent “demonic possession” before more people are killed.
The book’s strengths are the amusing descriptions of the bizarre behavior of the show more “possession” victims, who behave perfectly normally one moment, then begin to spout nursery rhymes while doing such things as mooning government officials the next.
The premise of the book, which is a satire of the growing trend toward standardized testing in schools, is creative. However, it suffers from characters that are stereotypical, dialog that is meant to be amusing, but isn’t, as well as a storyline that is
not believable. Several of the book’s characters appear to be annoyingly weak, and the author is not able to combine the subject of standardized testing with demonic possession successfully.
Although the book is written in the same style as the Lemony Snickett Series of Unfortunate Events books, it does not succeed in being as humerous.
It is unlikely that middle school readers will be intrigued by this book, due to its length and muddled story line. In addition, most high school students are not likely to be interested in reading about the adventures of sixth graders. Therefore, this book is not recommended for school library collections at either the middle or the high school level. show less

Synopsis: Popular 8th grader Kate, and her brainiac 6h grade Uncle George are accepted to the new Whittaker Magnet School, which boasts the highest standardized test scores in the nation. The school is run by Dr. Austin and his wife Cornelia Whittaker-Austin. Classes are held in the basement of the Whittaker Library and the students are fed protein shakes and forced to exercise on treadmills to improve their test performance. The hauntings seem to have begun again as staff and students appear to be possessed by a murderous demon. Kate and George, who right away realize that they do not belong at the school, try to solve the mystery of the ghostly demons.

Pros & Cons: This YA book is a satire of our nation's obsession with standardized show more tests, that any adult can crack a smirk over. However, I think much of the satire is above the targeted audience of the book - middle schoolers. The author puts "tween" references and dialogue in throughout the book, but they seem awkward. I enjoyed Bloor's Tangerine, but this book does not compare. I don't know if it is the attempt to combine realism with fantasy - but it just didn't work. I did enjoy the first 3/4th of the book and the mystery began to pull me in. The last quarter of the book and the ending just did not satisfy me. Overall, OK book (2 1/2 stars), but not highly recommended. show less