Book Review - School of Fear by Gitty Daneshvari (Book 1, School of Fear Series)

Everyone is afraid of something...

Madeleine Masterson is deathly afraid of bugs, especially spiders.

Theodore Bartholomew is petrified of dying.

Lulu Punchalower is scared of confined spaces.

Garrison Feldman is terrified of deep water.

With very few options left, the parents of these four twelve year-olds send them to the highly elusive and exclusive School of Fear to help them overcome their phobias. But when their peculiar teacher, Mrs. Wellington, and her unconventional teaching methods turn out to be more frightening than even their fears, the foursome realize that this just may be the scariest summer of their lives.  

Goodreads Link here

Publication Date:  2nd August 2012

Publisher:  ATOM

Amazon:  UK /  US    

My Review  
9 out of 10

I have to admit that when I go into a book store one of the last places I think to go and look at is the middle grade section, mainly because there is always young kids playing around there and its far too noisy!  I was very kindly send this book for review and I am so happy about that because I really had some fun reading this book.  


You have the four main characters,  Madeleine, Theo, Garrison and Lulu who each have their own fears that are taking over their lives.  Their parents send them to the School of Fear where the four main characters meet the very eccentric Mrs Wellington, her sidekick Schmidty, her dog Macaroni and her many cats. 


There is a lot of build up at the beginning of the book which I really enjoyed as it helped build up a bigger picture of Madeleine, Theo, Garrison and Lulu, their fears and how they are taking over their lives.  When they turn up at the School of Fear, I just loved the banter between Mrs Wellington and Schmidty and also the interaction between Mrs Wellington (being eccentric to the extreme) and the kids.  There's a lot more to this story than what seems to be  I did guess what would happen at the end of the story but that did not affect how much I enjoyed this book.

Do not let the fact that this is a middle grade novel put you off reading this if you are older.  I am certainly not middle grade any more but I very much enjoyed this story.  If you are looking for a fun read, I would recommend you try this one out.

Best wishes

Debs :-)