From my Point of View - Book Review

Last week I finished The Crazy School by Cornelia Read. The Crazy School is an institution in Massachusetts where parents with 'disturbed' teens send their children when all else has failed, that is, if they can afford it. But what are they really sending their children to? The school does have a real name, it's the Santangelo Academy, named for it's founder David Santangelo. Santangelo has come up with a bunch of very strange methods for handling the students, as well as teachers (who, oddly enough, seem to have just as many and, in some cases, more problems than their students) at his academy.

Madeline Dare, a new teacher for the fall semester, quickly became disillusioned with the methods 'Dr.' Santangelo chose to employ. As she tries to help her students, she struggles with who she can trust in the strange society Santangelo has established. In the end, all of her best efforts only get her tossed right into the middle of a murder investigation where she is the obvious suspect.

While this was not a book I'd put on my list of favorites, I did enjoy it. It was a fun story with real characters (as scary as that is to say). Read did a really great job at bring her characters to life.

I don't think I could recommend this one as easily as I do some others, but if you like books about boarding schools, teenagers with problems and adults (a few teachers, in this case) who want to help them, or slightly maniacal killers, you ought to at least take a look. You can even read a sample chapter online.

Elizabeth