“The Secret School” is a wonderful book written by Avi. The author Avi was born on December 23, 1937 in New York City. ‘The Secret School’ is a popular children’s book. The book is about a 14 year old young girl named Ida Bidson. The other characters include the tall and skinny best friend Tom and the often absent and mischievous Herbert. It also includes minor characters of various ages and sizes including Charley, Susie Spool, and Natasha Ashneski.
The setting of the story is in 1925 in rural Colorado.
The central character ‘Ida’ is a motivated eight grader and the daughter of a farmer in Elk Valley. She desperately wants to attend high school so she can become a teacher. She needs to pass her eighth grade exams at the end of the school year. However, the teacher Miss Fletcher, who teaches at her one room school, has a family emergency in the spring. Miss. Fletcher receives a telegram that her mother in east Iowa is very sick and she has to leave immediately.
The school has to shut down and Ida sees her dream of becoming a teacher impossible. Mr. Jordan even tells her that girls don’t need a high school education.
Ida doesn’t want to let go off her dream so easy so she and her classmate Tom come up with a brilliant plan to keep the school open. Ida decides to take over as the teacher of the one room school. Realizing that the school board would disapprove of their plan they decide to keep the whole thing a secret.
They need an older person to help them launch their plan. Miss Gertrude Sedgwick, the County Examiner becomes their ally when she stumbles onto their plan one day. Miss Gertrude Sedgwick lived in Silver Springs near the high school. She inspected the school from time to time. She had the authority to give the students an exit exam. After inspection she allows Ida and Tom their eighth grade exit exams but she also makes them promise that the other children will also take and pass the final exam.
Now, Ida falls under the pressure to not only pass her own exams but make the other children pass their exams. She also has to change the mind of her classmates who wanted to take the rest of the year off. Herbert makes sure that he gives Ida as much trouble as possible. In addition to this, she has to make them cooperate enough so that they don’t get caught by the parents and the community. Lastly, she must also keep up with her farming chores. As a result of the intense pressure on Ida she risks losing her dear classmate Tom. Nevertheless, Ida proves herself as a strong heroine in the book with her intelligence and courage.
Tom is an important character in the story. Every time Ida feels she’d fail as a teacher Tom encourages and supports her. She returns home late, does her everyday chores, prepares the family dinner, grades schoolwork and finally does her own studying. She would go to bed more and more exhausted everyday. However, Tom would leave apples at her desk to relieve her tension and stress. The other students helped out with the sweeping, mopping, cutting and hauling wood, dusting, taking out ashes, polishing desks, cleaning the privies, window washing.
One day when she is enjoying being the old Ida in recess time the County Examiner Miss Gertrude Sedgwick walks in. Ida Soaked and mud-spattered right in the middle of the pond looks nothing like a teacher. The County Examiner even after seeing Ida in such a state informs them that there is nothing wrong with Ida being their unofficial teacher. She promises to return on the morning of June the seventh to conduct the examinations.
One stormy afternoon when the children are busy studying at the secret school, Mr. Jordan makes a surprise visit. He tells all of them angrily to go home where they belong and the school will be closed from this day onwards. The students are left with no choice but to stay home. Ida’s brother Felix tags along with his father while Ida starts taking care of baby Shelby.
The next day, Herbert walks a mile to Ida’s house to inform her about a meeting of parents and the board. The meeting was going to be held to make sure the school stays shut. The very next evening the four members of the Elk Valley School Board Mr. Jordan, Mr. Hawkins, the Methodist Church minister, Ebenezer Morris and Mr. Plumstead, head of the Elk Valley Bank get together with the children and parents to discuss the fate of the school.
The children are accused for trespassing property and Ida accused of pretending to be a teacher. Mr. Morris, a good man, tells Mr. Jordan that since they haven’t destroyed the property or done any harm they must not be punished. The board realizes that Ida has not only helped students learn but also saved the board money.
The board comes to a decision that the pretend school will go on for two weeks so the children can take their exams. Mr. Jordan makes two conditions to be fulfilled by the students. Firstly, the families involved have to take responsibility for the building. Secondly, every child is expected to pass their exams. If they don’t pass it will be the teacher’s fault and not the board’s.
Finally, the day of the exam arrives. The students had spent every day quizzing each other, going over recitations, parsing sentences, working on penmanship. With a few minutes remaining to the exam Felix and Ida lose their way on the road. Tom saves the day when he arrives in his Ruckus and gives them a ride to school. All goes well for the students and Miss. Bidson. A week later Ida finds letters from the examiner stating that not only has she passed but her students have also cleared their exams. Herbert was the only exception. The story ends happily with Ida getting a scholarship to continue her high school.
I enjoyed the book because the plot was simple, the language easy to understand and the characters brave and humorous. I would strongly recommend the book to others.
WORKS CITED:
Avi. (1997). The Secret School. New York: Harper
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