This leads up to a vicious climactic fight that sees Good and Evil repeatedly switching sides. Growing into their true natures amid revelations and marked physical changes, the two spark escalating rivalry between the wings of the school. Gradually-too gradually, as the author strings out hundreds of pages of Hogwarts-style pranks, classroom mishaps and competitions both academic and romantic-it becomes clear that the placement wasn’t a mistake at all. When it happens to sweet, Disney princess–like Sophie and her friend Agatha, plain of features, sour of disposition and low of self-esteem, they are both horrified to discover that they’ve been dropped not where they expect but at Evil and at Good respectively. Those who survive to graduate become major or minor characters in fairy tales. 10-14)Ĭhainani works an elaborate sea change akin to Gregory Maguire’s Wicked (1995), though he leaves the waters muddied.Įvery four years, two children, one regarded as particularly nice and the other particularly nasty, are snatched from the village of Gavaldon by the shadowy School Master to attend the divided titular school.

Well-crafted entertainment-grade books about African-American teens are all too rare, and this is a solid contribution to the genre. There are few surprises in store for readers-Maine learns to love Tracy John and to dislike the crummily opportunistic Demetrius-but they could do a lot worse than to spend a few hours in Maine’s head. Whittenberg has crafted a highly enjoyable tale, set just after the end of the Vietnam War, with a smart, funny narrator-protagonist who acknowledges the problems of the world but keeps them at arm’s length.

As if having the disgustingly cute Tracy John in the household isn’t enough, Maine has to cope with all the usual travails of adolescence: Her skin is too black her crush-object Demetrius is happy enough to have her do his homework, but he gives his affection to the annoyingly light-skinned Dinah she has to baby-sit for Tracy John after school her family doesn’t understand her. Three years after the death of her Auntie Karyn and the subsequent arrival of her terminally adorable cousin Tracy John into the family, 14-year-old Charmaine still hasn’t come to terms with this reality.

Tutored by Allison Whittenberg