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The Crazy School (Hardcover)

by Cornelia Read (Author)
Key Phrases: crazy school, dorm parents, honey lamb, Uncle Alan, San Francisco, Detective Cartwright (more...)
3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (20 customer reviews)

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
At the start of Edgar-finalist Read's gutsy second Madeline Dare novel (after 2006's A Field of Darkness), Dare, a 26-year-old former debutante, takes a job in the fall of 1989 as a history teacher at Santangelo Academy, an unorthodox therapeutic boarding school in western Massachusetts dominated by its authoritarian cape-wearing headmaster, David Santangelo. When a student, Mooney LeChance, reveals that his girlfriend, Fay Perry, is pregnant, Dare keeps Mooney's secret while the couple is confined to the Farm, a punishment dorm in the woods. The book's first half focuses on character—the woefully misguided souls who teach at Santangelo, the students in all their dysfunctional glory—but the action picks up when Mooney and Fay die from drinking poisoned punch after a birthday party at the Farm, and Dare is arrested for her role in preparing the fatal beverage. While some characters, like the social-climbing parents who drop in between vacations, verge on stereotype, Read graphically depicts the depressing underside of a supposedly elite private school. (Jan.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review
Praise for A Field of Darkness: 'Spellbinding.' New York Times Book Review 'A sensational debut.' Kirkus Reviews (starred review) 'Read's plot crackles and pops.' Booklist (starred review) 'A chilling, realistic thriller brimming with intrigue.' Romantic Times 'Completely captivating- wry, knowing, hip, intelligent, exciting. One of the best debuts I've ever seen.' Lee Child

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Product Details

  • Hardcover: 336 pages
  • Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (January 10, 2008)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 044658259X
  • ISBN-13: 978-0446582599
  • Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #83,151 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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16 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars "We don't want to lose the child in the process of trying to save him.", January 12, 2008
Cornelia Read's "The Crazy School" opens in 1989. Twenty-six year old Madeline Dare is a history teacher at the Santangelo Academy in the Berkshire Mountains of Massachusetts. The academy's pupils are disturbed teenagers, many of whom have been released from psychiatric hospitals and are currently taking medication to keep them on an even keel. Although Madeline cares about her students, the stress of the job is getting to her. The kids curse and throw things, make suggestive remarks, and show little respect for themselves, let alone authority figures. Nor does Madeline enjoy the twice weekly sessions that every teacher must attend under the direction of Sookie, a therapist who is well-meaning but incredibly cloying. In addition, since cigarettes and caffeine are banned on campus, Madeline sneaks around to grab some smokes and guzzle caffeinated beverages with her pal and fellow teacher, Lulu. Although Madeline is sorely tempted to quit, her husband is out of work, and they need her salary to keep them afloat.

On the plus side, Madeline's class size is tiny. Using language that teenagers understand, she tries to convey her knowledge about such topics as World War II, the United Nations, the McCarthy era, and the "flower power" of the sixties (which she experienced firsthand as the child of hippies). What passes for calm in the school is suddenly shattered when a student violently pushes his hand through a window and shortly thereafter confides to Madeline that his girlfriend is pregnant. Things go from bad to worse when the two are found dead after drinking punch spiked with poison. Could they have taken their own lives in a fit of despair? Madeline has reason to believe that this is a case of homicide, not suicide, and she turns sleuth in order to bring the killer to justice. Her mission becomes even more urgent when the police supsect that she may have had a hand in the tragedy.

The first half of the novel is funny and sharp, with bright and intelligent dialogue that is both sardonic and witty. The author scores points satirizing phonies who make money peddling bogus therapies to gullible clients. The colorful characters include: Dhumavati, the sympathetic dean of students; Mindy, an obnoxious teacher whose deep loathing of Madeline is fully reciprocated; Sookie, the aforementioned therapist, who is like "a golden retriever--big-pawed, blonde, and brimming with indiscriminate affection"; Santangelo, an egotistical bully who runs his school with an iron hand and uses arbitrary rules to keep everyone in line; and Wiesner, a young man who can be charming when he isn't blowing something up or threatening a teacher with a carving knife.

"The Crazy School" loses steam when it becomes a conventional murder mystery culminating in an implausible and silly denouement laced with cartoonish violence. Startling and long-winded revelations reveal the rot at the school's core. When the author keeps things light and breezy, her book is entertaining and refreshing. However, the dour and improbable conclusion is jarring and detracts from the story's considerable entertainment value.
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars For all who are responsible to be responsible: buy and read this book!, January 19, 2008
I was fortunate enough to attend The DeSisto School in West Stockbridge, MA, next to Tanglewood, in the late 1970s and early 1980s before it truly became The Crazy School. Cornelia Read's detailed account of how it was for a teacher was not privy to most students there, and thus fascinating to learn about. Accurate down to the minutiae, Read satisfies us all--alums as well as educators--curious to reminisce with out-loud laughter, and probably some tears as well. The lingo, the rituals, and the worship have been craftily woven into another Dare-ing mystery. Every chapter's end leads to unexpected winding turns, much like Route 183 itself. And Read's hipster voice lends a breezy coolness and vivid color--crisp as the air in the Fall and Winter of the Berkshire Mountains.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars interesting amateur sleuth, December 31, 2007
In 1989 in the Berkshires in western Massachusetts, twenty-six year old Madeline Dare obtains a position as a history teacher at Santangelo Academy "therapeutic boarding school". The former Long Island debutante and married Syracuse fluff reporter knows she will have problems adjusting to her new environs, but is unaware how much.

Headmaster David Santangelo runs the academy with an iron fist allowing no room for mistakes; offenders are sent to "the farm" for punishment. Madeline's distressed student Mooney LeChance informs her that he believes his girlfriend, Fay Perry is pregnant. Although she knows she is expected to report this to Mr. Santangelo, Madeline agrees to keep the couple's revelation secret for now especially as the teen duo is serving time at the Farm. However, Mooney and Fay die after drinking party punch. The police arrest Dare as she allegedly prepared the poisoned drink.

THE CRAZY SCHOOL is an interesting amateur sleuth tale that reads like two novels in one. The first part of the book provides insight into those at the Santangelo Academy as if the story line is an exposé character study of the negative elements of a private school. Somewhere towards the middle of the novel, the plot veers into a murder mystery. Although distinct, the parts ultimately blend together as Dare dares to prove her innocence while exposing A FIELD OF DARKNESS that engulfs the school.

Harriet Klausner
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars Unreadable
To be honest, I didn't completely read this.

The concept was interesting. However, this was a mystery novel plot written by someone who doesn't (or cannot) write... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Moonmica

3.0 out of 5 stars School Days....Fool on the Hill Days
The ominous Santangelo Academy for disturbed youth is set in the Berkshires. This idyllic backdrop stands out in stark contrast to the school and the majority of the characters... Read more
Published 6 months ago by BeatleBangs1964

3.0 out of 5 stars One Crazy Read ...
The Crazy School: Cornelia Read
Three Stars

This book starts off quick, grabbing you from the start, and making you think "seriously?! Read more
Published 6 months ago by Zippee

3.0 out of 5 stars Not what I thought it would be
This is the second book to feature Cornelia Read's protagonist Madeline Dare, but it doesn't appear necessary to read the first although fans say it's worthwhile to do so, since... Read more
Published 9 months ago by K. A. Kegley

3.0 out of 5 stars An interesting story failed by a weak mystery
Situated in the Berkshire Mountains in Massachusetts, Santangelo Academy is the last recourse for disturbed and volatile teens with behavioral, drug and mental problems who've... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Baking Enthusiast

5.0 out of 5 stars The Real Deal
I attended the Desisto School, which the book is based on. The school was such a twisted evil place that is extremely difficult to fully explain and for people that did not attend... Read more
Published 11 months ago by W. Teitler

4.0 out of 5 stars A talented author, but an uneven read
One of the most difficult tasks for a writer is to maintain the momentum of a book from beginning to end.

I was mesmerized by the beginning of this book. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Lisa Dickson

1.0 out of 5 stars The Crazy School
The book is a total waste of time. If the language was cleaned up it could be sold as a teenage novel (13 yrs old). Read more
Published 13 months ago by Margaret Cameron

3.0 out of 5 stars CrazySchool aka DeSisto School
The novel is able to suck only those who have been immersed in the tortures of a school such as the one in the novel! Read more
Published 14 months ago by Sky's & Kat's Cali-Mom

4.0 out of 5 stars Certainly Worth It
I was unsure of this one at the start, but it ended up being a really fine read. In fact, so much so, I went back and bought an earlier work by the same author. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Nancy G. Stevens

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