The Crazy School by Cornelia Read

[Krbustillos]

Cornelia Read has become one of my favorite writers. She has several books revolving around her main character, Madeline Dare. Her mystery thrillers are fully of twists and turns, yet witty and at times sarcastically humorous.

I give The Crazy School 4 stars out of 5. Madeline Dare becomes a teacher at Santangelo Academy, a private boarding school for at risk teenagers who display several behavioral issues. Madeline fits well here because of her strong personality and balance of humor and discipline. She finds herself in a hard spot between her students confidentiality and maintaining the headmasters weird therapeutic regimen that both students and teachers must follow. Madeline knows things aren’t quite right and begins to question the headmaster’s way of running the school. Then a traumatic event occurs with one of Madeline’s beloved students and the book takes a dramatic turn. It soon then turns into a “he said she said” dialogue between the “emotionally unstable mentally ill” students and the school administration who are supposed to be protecting the children. The plot is a mystery throughout and leaves you wondering who to trust in the story. Being in the middle of the mountains in Massachusetts with no contact with the world on the outside, Madeline begins to take matters into her owns hands. Each twist and turn she begins to unravel dark, chilling secrets that takes you on an absolute roller coaster.

At the beginning of the story, I thought it was a Young Adult story, but when you read the language the author uses and begin to understand the content, is it not. All the characters have their own story and background that bring an interesting asset to the entirety of the story. The books takes place in the late 1980’s early 1990’s and although when reading some of the events that take place, at times may seem far out but in this day in age with so many crazy things happening in schools, you make think twice about “if it can happen” or not.
If you plan to read this book, go in with an open mind. Cornelia Read is a sharp, unique writer. I believe if you take in and let the story soak up, you make like it as much as I did.