Story Time

Bloor's novel comes across well on audio, thanks to narrator Julie Dretzin. While delivering a subtle, nuanced interpretation of each character, she especially shines with her teeth-grinding, haughty rendering of the story's villainous Cornelia Whittaker Austin. This is satire with a capital "S." Whittaker Magnet School, with its motto of "Leave No High-Scoring Child Behind," has found a way of manipulating the school district to reach out, octopus-like, to capture the homes of really smart kids. Worse yet, people seem to have a bad habit of becoming "possessed" during Whittaker's story time--frequently ending up dead! Recently roped-in students Kate and George find that, with nothing to do but practice testing for the renowned "test-based curriculum," they have plenty of time to investigate the mysterious goings-on. While humorous and macabre, this story contains quite a bit of violence and is best suited to a YA audience. D.G. (c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine

February 16, 2004
In the sprawling, satirical tradition of his Tangerine
and Crusader
, Bloor delivers a no-holds-barred, deeply subversive tale about modern education. George and Kate, uncle and niece (although Kate is by two years the elder), are invited to become students at the Whittaker Magnet School, located in an old library building rumored to be haunted. The headmaster proudly expounds on "test-based curriculum," which in practical terms means that standardized test scores are all the school cares about ("The higher the test scores, the more people who want to move into your school district. The more people who move into your school district, the higher the tax revenues," the headmaster's son declaims). Bloor's fans will expect the deliciously dizzying proliferation of story lines, but the mix of genres may be uneasier here than in his previous books. Ghosts or demons begin to emerge from the antiquarian book collection hidden upstairs; the headmaster's wife subjugates Kate and shamelessly favors her own children; and Kate witnesses what appear to be murders—and locates the corpses just as the First Lady arrives for a historic visit to the school. There are characters with deep dark secrets, scenes of spectacular destruction (too absurd to be gruesome) and extravagant oddities. Readers may be relieved that Bloor lets the final explosions detonate off the page; the book is great, smart fun but, like a race-car driver making hairpin turns, comes close to losing control. Ages 12-up.