Customer Reviews

The Strictest School in the World: Being the Tale of a Clever Girl, a Rubber Boy and a Collection of Flying Machines, Mostly Broken (The Mad Misadventures of Emmaline and Rubberbones)

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I had read a glowing review of The Strictest School in the World last month, so I was quite pleased when a review copy showed up in my mailbox. The Strictest School in the World lived up to my expectations. It's so much fun! It's a book aimed squarely at the 9-12 set, featuring lovably eccentric characters, larger-than-life bad guys, two independent-minded protagonists, and madcap adventures.

The story is set in Yorkshire, England in 1894 (the late Victorian Era). The two protagonists are fourteen-year-old Emmaline Cayley and twelve-year-old Robert Burns (also called Rab). Emmaline is sent from India, where she has grown up, to live with her Aunt Lucy in England, prior to attending boarding school. (There are definite echoes here of Frances Hodgson Burnett's The Secret Garden and The Little Princess, though Emmaline is a more independent thinker than either Sara Crewe or Mary Lennox.)

Emmaline is obsessed with creating a flying machine, even though she herself is afraid of flying. Imagine her delight when she meets the intrepid Rab, called Rubberbones because of his rubber-like ability to survive falls with nary a scratch. Rubberbones, who has dropped out of school to earn money for his family, is more than happy to be paid by Aunt Lucy to support Emmaline in her flying machine projects. And Rubberbones turns out to have an instinctive knack for aviation. Together, with the support of Aunt Lucy and her unconventional butler Lal Singh, the two spend the summer constructing flying machines. They have varying degrees of success.

Their happy world is interrupted, however, when Emmaline is sent away to school. The school that her mother has selected for her, sight unseen, has a reputation for being "the strictest school for girls in the world." Emmaline has difficulty adjusting, particularly after the relative freedom of her Aunt Lucy's house.

"St. Grimelda's made her think of the novels of Charles Dickens, with their slum conditions, mean relations, dashed hopes, and general aspects of brutal misery (and miserable brutality). But they were cheery tales compared with daily life at St. Grimelda's.

The girls themselves were beastly to one another. Since almost nothing enjoyable was allowed, girls tried to hide small things, like sweets and trinkets. Every piece of this "contraband" -- as if it were smuggler's cargo -- would be seized by older girls.

...

Strangely, though the girls spent a lot of effort being horrible to one another, they were extremely -- in fact weirdly -- obedient to the teachers, especially Mrs. Wackett and Matron. Teachers simply reminded the girls of "the consequences of misbehavior," and the girls shuddered, turned pale and jumped to attention. Or fainted."

(Above quotes from Chapter 9: A Dickensian Sort of Chapter)

Yes, St. Grimelda's school is a terrible place, filled with rules, privations, meanness and betrayal among the students, and an undisclosed punishment that leaves the girls gibbering with fear. Emmaline quickly realizes that she must find a way to escape. However, escape is not so easy. She's not permitted visitors, and her letters are screened. The castle is surrounded by a wall, and hardly anyone is allowed in or out. Emmaline has to reach deep within herself for bravery and ingenuity to find a way out.

Meanwhile, her scatterbrained but loving Aunt Lucy, and Lucy's loyal companions Lal Singh and Rubberbones, quickly realize from Emmaline's colorless letters that something is very wrong. They put aside everything else to travel to the school, and work from the outside to find a way to help Emmaline escape. They, and Emmaline, receive help from a variety of unexpected sources, but also encounter dangerous enemies, in their mutual quest to extricate Emmaline from St. Grimelda's.

There is a lot to like about this book. The author's voice is hilarious, with matter-of-fact recounting of tragedies, and sly insertions of humor. The naming of the characters reminds me a bit of Roald Dahl (e.g. Miss Sharpelbow, a terrifying teacher, and Professor Bellbuckle, a mad inventor). The plot, with loyal relatives trying to help a young girl escape from a prison of a school, reminds me of one of the main sub-plots in Eva Ibbotson's The Star of Kazan. However, The Strictest School in the World is more humorous and in tone, with more over-the-top behavior. The humor of the book keeps the Gothic overtones from ever being too much.

This book has examples of both loyalty and betrayal. Emmaline learns what true friendship means, and what it takes to trust someone (and when not to trust someone). The lengths that the people who love Emmaline are willing to go to to rescue her are heart-warming. The ending is very satisfying, too. I think that upper elementary school kids, both boys and girls, will love this book. I look forward to future books in the series.

This book review was originally published on my blog, Jen Robinson's Book Page, on October 1, 2006.

I have to say upfront that "The Strictest School in the World" is my favorite type of children's novel. It's a Middle Grade adventure story involving a daring girl, a crazy aunt, a Dickensian boarding school, and flying machines. What more could you want? Written by Howard Whitehouse and illustrated by Bill Slavin, "The Strictest School in the World" is well written fun for the 9-13-year-old reader.

Emmaline Cayley dreams of flying. Her great-great-uncle was Sir George Cayley, a historical figure and pioneer in aviation, and she uses his plans to design flying machines. Her only problem is that she herself is afraid to fly.

When Emmaline is fourteen, she is sent by her clueless parents from India to England to attend St. Grimelda's School for Young Ladies. The only benefit to this arrangement is that she has the opportunity to stay with her slightly-unhinged Aunt Lucy before the term starts. There she meets "Rubberbones" or "Rab," a small boy who never hurts himself when he falls. Rather, he bounces on impact. Emmaline has found her pilot and, in her aunt, a source of funding for her inventions.

When Emmaline is sent to school, all inventing has to stop. Instead, she's a student at a the "strictest school in the world." The girls live in fear, the matron is a monster, and a couple of "birds" patrol the ground. Soon a rescue operation is under way to save Emmaline from St. Grimelda's.

"The Strictest School in the World" is funny, smart, and exciting. Emmaline is a wonderful character, a girl scientist who is unflinching in the face of danger. Give this one to a Middle Grade reader today!

Howard Whitehouse has crafted a hilarious tale about a Victorian schoolgirl's struggle to build her own flying machine. While the story enchants the pre-teen in your life, the Pythonesque humour is sure to keep you in stitches. At no additional cost, you also get to imbibe the gorgeous illustrations of Bill Slavin. All told, it's a rollicking ride. Highly recommended!

Emmaline Cayley, an English girl who has spent her entire 14 years in India, has been shipped off by her parents to England to attend a boarding school, St. Grimelda's School for Young Ladies. Her letter of acceptance arrives from the school:

Miss Cayley,
You are to report to this school for educational purposes. Please do not even consider attempting to avoid this necessity. The arrangements are firm and will not be altered.

The harsh tone of the letter is nothing compared to what Emmaline finds the school to be when she arrives. Under such depressing circumstances, how is she supposed to follow her dream of creating a flying machine? Will she ever see her aunt and friend again?

I put The Strictest School in the World on my to-read list after I read Jen Robinson's positive review (she heard about it from Kelly). And I'm glad I did. Filled with charming illustrations and written in a delightfully old-fashioned manner, this story is enjoyable from start to finish. You will cheer for Emmaline and Rubberbones throughout their various adventures and mishaps. I'm hoping for a sequel!

Fourteen year old Emmaline and 12 year old Robert Burns (Rubberbones) are trying to build a flying machine. They are almost done when....she is sent to a school from a horror movie, St. Grimelda's. It is a very funny book. I loved it. Any boy or girl that likes Harry Potter would like this. It is satisfying, and you won't fall asleep reading it. I couldn't put it down. You won't be able to either.

Book Talk: Emmaline is determined to build a flying machine, and she gets the perfect opportunity to do just that when her parents send her from India to stay with her aunt in England. Her aunt is a widower with the money to support Emmaline in her aviary endeavors and seems to have no qualms with allowing her niece to engage in such a dangerous and unlady-like pastime. When she finds a local town boy nicknamed Rubberbones to pilot her machine it seems like she has everything she needs. But soon her time inventing and running free is cut short by her parent's desire that she get a proper education. The teachers are ruthless and the students are either too terrified to speak or terrifying the others. If anyone steps out of line they are threatened with the sinister punishment of 'cleaning out the birds.' Emmaline is used to using her wit to create inventions, but if she wants to escape she will need to find the courage to put her own neck on the line. Will she be able to do it? Or will she be stuck forever in the strictest school in the world?

Rocks My Socks: I love the setting of the novel and the satirical jabs it takes at English society at the time like the ruthless soccer match between local towns or how the gypsies are fed up with English children running off to join them. Emmaline is a bright, determined character and Rubberbones is a lovable scamp. The details about Emmaline's attempts to make a flying machine are interesting as well.

Rocks In My Socks: Once Emmaline gets to the strictest school etc it becomes very predictable and a bit boring. I realize that it's supposed to be satirizing the whole strict school trope, but this area of the novel just wasn't as strong or engaging. It also takes the hyperbole to the extreme at this point and what was at first a fairly realistic story with embellishments for comedic effect turns it into something that is just completely absurd and seems to follow no rhyme or reason or internal rules. I wish Emmaline had been left to making up flying devices in her small town. There is a thin line between making fun of a genre of fiction and just writing bad genre fiction, and for me this book skirted that line a bit too much.

Every Book Its Reader: Boys and girls aged 9-12 who like silly, light-hearted quick reads. There are similarities to the Lemony Snickett series, but this work is definitely not as dark so for children who liked the series for its humour, I'd recommend this book, but for children who liked Snickett for his darker tendencies I wouldn't. I think the book is a bit too basic and juvenile to be really enjoyed by most adults.


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I love the author's humor. He is British but has lived in the US so his humor is unique. It was very adventurous too and not predictable at all.

I'm reading this book to my six year old son, and it makes great bedtime reading. Since the two main characters ar e a boy an da girl, this book works just fine for both sexes.

My daughter and I love this book and the others in this series. It's exciting, funny, and instills the values of friendship and having a go.