Customer Reviews

The Secret School (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition)

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Fourteen-year-old Ida Bidson's dream is to become a teacher. But in her remote, poverty-stricken region of Colorado, most dreams don't come true, and those that do take hard work, devotion, and sometimes, just plain luck. But luck seems to be going against Ida when, two months before the end of the term, the teacher must leave to care for her sick mother. Stingy Mr. Jordan, the head of the school board, refuses to hire a teacher this close to the end of the school year. So Ida takes it upon herself to be the teacher, and run the school in secret, so that she can graduate eighth grade and be eligible to attend high school in the fall. But what will happen to Ida and her students if their secret school is discovered? This was a wonderful historical novel about one girl's determination to do whatever it takes to make her hopes and dreams come true.

Taking place in a small rural Colorado turn in the 1920s, The Secret School takes a serious look at the educational values and views of women at that point in American history. When the schoolteacher must leave town before the end of the school year, the school board decides to close the one-room schoolhouse rather than hire a new teacher to save some money. Crushed by this news is 14 year old Ida who now will not be able to take her exit exams to continue on to high school in the Fall.

Ida, along with the support of the other 7 children of the school decides to become the teacher and finish out the school year. As this is a small valley, nothing stays secret for very long and Ida and her classmates must face the music.

This book serves an invaluable look at the history of the area and also of education and the struggles for women's rights. The superintendent wonders if girls even need to go to high school. This book would serve a purpose in guided reading groups or literature studies in upper-elementary grades and on through middle school.

Why 4 stars?:
This book serves an incredible purpose - it tells the struggles that women and educators have come through in the last 80 years. I only took a star away because the book did not make the issues more important but focused on the plot more. The plot, while entertaining failed to grab me as much as the questions about society. Still, this book definitely deserves to be read and find its way into elementary and middle school classrooms.

Avi's The Secret School is great! It's a fun, active story that not only teaches about old fashioned life and values and encourages the importance of schooling, but also makes you think about determination, working as a group, and independence. I'd recommend it to anyone; excellent! :)))

This book was about a girl who wants to become a teacher in the 1920's, but when her teacher has to leave her chances are zeroed out.The book had many conflicts and was suspensful. This book taught me to keep trying and you might achieve your goals. I am in the sventh grade and I liked it but I think kids younger than me would like it more than I did. I thought this book was ok.

Ida Bidson attends school in a one-room schoolhouse in 1925 Colorado. One day, her teacher is called away to take care of her sick mother. Since it is late in the year, the school board agrees to close the school and allow the children to take up their studies the next year if they find a new teacher. But Ida doesn't want to wait a year. She is in eighth grade and wants to go on to high school. She has dreams of being a teacher and they are about to come true (sooner than she thinks!)

When her friend Tom suggests that she be the teacher, Ida thinks it might be a good idea but the school board can't know. It's a big decision though and she takes it very seriously. When the students agree that they will keep the departure of their teacher a secret and that they will keep attending school if Ida teaches, Ida decides that she will do it.

Ida takes all her responsibilities seriously and becomes a very good teacher. But she still has to work on the farm AND she has her own exam to study for. It becomes bit overwhelming and it becomes increasingly difficult for her to keep up with it all. Will Ida's secret school stay a secret? Will the students learn enough from Ida to progress to the next grade? Will the school close permanently if Ida is not successful? It's a lot of pressure on one 14-year-old but if anyone can handle it, Ida can.

I highly recommend this book to girls. Ida is a fantastic role model for persistence and having faith in one's convictions. Yet this is not just "girl book". Boys can learn a thing or two from the character of Ida. They might even find a bit of themselves in Tom Kohl, Herbert Bixler or Ida's brother Felix.

This is no thrill ride or huge suspense story. But it has real value nonetheless. It is sweet and charming, unpretentious - much like its main character. Avi describes each landscape and each conversation superbly yet with an economy of words. Like Avi's other works, this book not only teaches us about the characters and the time they live in, it also teaches us something about ourselves and basic human nature. I enjoyed this book.

The Secret School, a wonderful novel by Avi takes the reader on an adventure in the Colorodo mountains during 1925. Ida Bidsoon a 14 year girl, is the main character, and she goes to a one room school with only eight students.
One day Ida's teacher announces that her mother is very ill, and she has to move which is a big problem for Ida becasue school would close. If school closes, there would be no exam, no high school, no future. So the students decide, since Ida wants to become a teacher, to make her their teacher, but tell no one. The reader will enjoy this book because of all the details that make you apart of the story. In the end, will Ida's dream come true? Well, read the book and see!

This book will take you back to a different time in America. It was a time when children of all ages attended school together in one room. It was also a time when children did not have to attend school, and most did not go past the eighth grade.
In this story you will discover what happens when the teacher in the town gets called away for the second half of the year. Do the children call it quits until next year? Or can something be done? What if an eighth grade girl named Ida decides that she can be teacher? Will the school board accept her idea, or will it have to be kept a secret? Read to find out.
I enjoyed this book from cover to cover. It was very entertaining, and I especially liked finding out how Ida thought she could make the transition from student and friend to the teacher and disciplinarian. Once you start reading this book, you won't want to put it down.

"The Secret School" did not live up to my expectations, but then again, I have high expectations for Avi. The plot sounded very intriguing, with a one-room school being closed down when the teacher leaves, and Ida becoming the secret teacher, because she is the most knowledgeable pupil out of her classmates, but once you finish the book, you'll feel empty, as if you missed a chapter or two. The characters were underdeveloped and the ending a little too sugar coated. Ida's parents were one-of-a-kind during this era, as most parents didn't want their daughter going past elementary school, especially farming families. The relationship between Tom and Ida was underdeveloped - we know they knew each other from early childhood and that they fancy each other, but that's all we know. Miss Sedgewick wasn't portrayed accurately in my opinion - no one, no matter what era, would allow an 8th grader to teach students. An epilogue was also lacking. The reason I give this book three stars, and not one, is because the topic *is* interesting, in it's own, bland way. Good for younger readers, being introduced to the 1920s life, but not a good way to acquaint yourself with Avi. Ten years and younger - I recommend ; 11 years and older - I do not recommend.

In a back wood Colorado one room school house a young girl proves
that she has what it takes to get to high school
by keeping the school open in secret
when the teacher is called away to nurse her sick mother.
There is also a first teen love romance mixed up in the fight to keep the school
open and learning going on.
As a children's reader this story is interesting and quick paced.
I liked the short novel that results
better than some of Avi's other work that I've reviewed.

The Secret School

By, Avi

The Secret School is about a fourteen-year-old named Ida Bidson who ends up being a teacher of a secret school. You see, the regular teacher, Miss Fletcher, has to go to Iowa to take care of her sick mother. Ida desperately wants to be a teacher when she grows up and she has to go to high school to become a teacher. I know what you're asking, why can't she just go to high school and become a teacher? She can't because she has to take her exit exams from her current school to get into high school.

It was towards the end of the year and Miss Fletcher and the school board decided that school was over until the fall, so, Ida can't take her exit exams. She will have to do the year all over again, but will she? Or, will she instead actually do the secret school and get into high school next fall without repeating a grade? Find out by reading The Secret School!

This book got so suspenseful; it left me on the edge of my chair. I got worried when Herbert started skipping classes. I never cried in this book because whenever it got sad, it wasn't that bad. I would recommend this book to 3rd grade and up. Have fun reading it!

EN