Killing Mr. Griffin

[Killing Mr. Griffin] by Lois Duncan
★★★★1/2

From The Book:
They only meant to scare him.

Mr. Griffin is the strictest teacher at Del Norte High, with a penchant for endless projects and humiliating his students. Even straight-A student Susan can't believe how mean he is to the charismatic Mark Kinney. So when her crush asks Susan to help a group of students teach a lesson of their own, she goes along. After all, it's a harmless prank, right? But things don't go according to plan. When one "accident" leads to another, people begin to die. Susan and her friends must face the awful truth: one of them is a killer.

My Views:
If you have a few hours on your hands or just want to read something that doesn't weigh 500 pounds or is composed show more of 700 pages...this little jewel is your new best friend. In spite of someone thinking that it should be banned...it was one of the best books I've read this year. I guess I can see the reason for "banning" it but believe me teens read much worse than this every day.

We have all had a teacher like Mr. Griffin. A teacher that demanded that we actually work to get the grade. Most of us though don't respond by kidnapping said teacher and inadvertently killing them. The students are just too young or too immature to see things from Mr. Griffin's side...they just know that English is no longer the breeze it was last year. So a group of students decide to try and change things but the plan was a disaster waiting to happen from the start. one of the perpetrators was charismatic but with sociopathic tendencies...one was the class president and never thought he's be suspected.... one was a star athlete that everyone liked and admired... and then there was the "Queen Bee"...the one that gets voted home coming Queen just because she breathes. They needed a decoy so they enlist the class geek Susan because she just wants to be liked. Unfortunately for them this complicates things because she out of the entire group has a conscience. Things fall apart soon due to both poor planning and sheer bad luck.

Unlike some teen books, this one attempts to give the various adults' viewpoints as well as the students. It raises some questions about nature or nurture, but can be read simply for entertainment. show less

In Killing Mr. Griffin, a well‐meaning high-school prank staged by Susan McConnell and her popular friends spins terrifyingly out of control. When their plan to scare their unpopular English teacher goes too far, they struggle with fear, guilt, and conflicting loyalties. Told through escalating tension and character perspectives, this classic YA suspense novel explores how teenage arrogance and poor impulse control can trigger irreversible tragedy. A sharp, chilling cautionary tale with enduring relevance.

I first read this book when I was a teenager; rereading it now, I rank it as the best of Duncan's yummy books. It's much more well-written, and much subtler, than you would expect. It's a sad story, and also a bit romantic, oddly--the relationship between Mr. Griffin and his wife is so utterly sweet, and I think it is the part of the story that hit me the hardest--the sadness has depth, and it can be appreciated even more when you read it as an adult. The character of the main villain in this story chills me, because people like this do exist, and they can influence other people. Just a really good story that keeps you hooked the entire time.

This short, older YA book packed quite a wallop of emotion. Although I am already familiar with Duncan's talented writing, I was still surprised how sad and tragic this book came across. It gives an interesting perspective for that special teacher who pushes kids too hard and doesn't listen to excuses.

Throw in the fascinating mixture of teens - a young, shy girl who is a loner and falls too easily as prey into the grips of others because she's that desperate for attention; a cute girl who has learned to manipulate everyone from a young age and has no remorse because of how spoiled she is; a jock who is a decent kid who doesn't think much for himself; and ultimately a psychopath, serial killer in the making, someone who cares for no show more ones and easily manipulates others. Disturbing stuff.

This short book really packs a punch, as I have said, of emotion on so many levels. So sad. The ending was a heartbreaking wrap-up that really affected me - I genuinely felt for Mr. Griffin. Pacing is strong and steady, and there are several gasp, "oh no" moments with demented twists. Duncan's stylized, subtle writing accompanies the bizarre story perfectly. It's deeper than it seems once you get past the initial layers.

Much better than the book that became the movie, 'I know what you did last summer'. Certainly an underrated gem from Lois Duncan. Highly recommended if you find it. show less

"Killing Mr. Griffin" is a harrowing story about high school students whose high school English teacher dies on them during what was "only" supposed to be a big scare they wanted to give him.

Mr. Griffin is a very dedicated English teacher in an Albuquerque high school, but in his desire to teach his students discipline and dedication to their studies, he is too harsh and uncompromising, and never gives them anything other than criticism: nothing is good enough for him.

One day, after a tense showdown in class between him and a few students, some of these students decide that they should give him a good scare to teach him a lesson, and get back at him for what they see as all kinds of injustices committed against them. With a psychopath show more as the group's mastermind (even though the others do not realize this is what he is), they hatch a plot to kidnap Mr. Griffin, blindfold him, and take him up to the mountains that are near the city. There, they plan on making him think they are going to kill him, and have him beg for his life, just as he had Mark, the group leader, beg to be reinstated into his English class after plagiarizing a term paper.

At first, the plan goes as planned, but Mr. Griffin is a lot harder to break than the group had anticipated, so they leave him, with the intention of coming back later that night when he is sure to break down. It must be said that Mark is the one who pushes for this, and gets the others, who are somewhat reluctant, to go along with him. Two of them later go back sooner than planned, ridden with remorse for what they have done, but find Mr. Griffin dead. Unbeknownst to them, he had a heart condition for which he regularly had to take pills.

As a consequence, the group, still led by Mark, unsuccessfully tries to get rid of the body, and cover up their tracks. It all goes terribly wrong when Mark kills an old lady when retrieving some evidence from her, and would have killed one of the group members too (because she had finally decided to go to the police), had she not been rescued at the last minute by a police detective and the wife of the very man she participated in killing.

This is a very disturbing book, that deals with the charismatic power a single person can have over others, with tragic consequences in this case. What is all the more disturbing here is the fact that the main characters are all teenagers, and for the most part, do not seem to realize the gravity of what they are doing. It is as if they had lost the ability to distinguish right from wrong. They are just blindly following what Mark is telling them to do, trusting in him as if he was their savior as the situation spins increasingly out of control.

I thought the story was very well written, and Ms. Duncan makes her characters really believable as she also takes us inside their life at home, where they can have a very different face than the one they show in public, including Mr. Griffin.

This book regularly makes its way onto banned books lists due to the subject matter, but I think it is definitely a good book to have in a high school library because it shows the dangers of peer pressure, and it can certainly trigger important discussions or reflections about it. I would recommend it for Gr. 9-12, or even 10-12 because of the troubling subject matter. show less

Very, very flawed young adult book. The biggest problem is that Duncan, truth be told, just isn't that great a writer -- she seems to be incapable of putting herself in her readers' place, and she has a dreadfully, horribly tin ear for dialog. Still, this is an engaging read, and probably one of her two or three best books.

Other than a couple of dated remarks, this chilling novel could have been written yesterday. This very scary book is about high school students who kidnap their despised English teacher to teach him a lesson. Unfortunately, Mr. Griffin has a heart condition and dies as a result of being tied up and away from his medications. It is a horrible accident. The scary part involves the students' reactions and behavior following the death. Without giving the plot away, the bad things escalate to a horrific climax.
Many high schools read this novel to address peer pressure as well as psychopathic behavior. It definitely speaks to both of those issues and is a very important book. I'm not sure to whom I would recommend it.