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Summary
Summary
More than anything, Ida Bidson wants to become a teacher. To do that, she needs to finish eighth grade so she can go on to high school. But when the one-room school in Ida's remote Colorado town closes unexpectedly, that dream seems unattainable. Her only hope is to keep the school open without anyone finding out. Yet even a secret school needs a teacher. Ida can't be it. . . . Or can she?
In the spirit of The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, two-time Newbery Honor recipient Avi once again has created a compelling story featuring a headstrong and memorable heroine who is determined to take control of her destiny.
Author Notes
Avi was born in 1937, in the city of New York and raised in Brooklyn. He began his writing career as a playwright, and didn't start writing childrens books until he had kids of his own.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
When the teacher at the one-room schoolhouse must depart unexpectedly, a 14-year-old girl swears the other students to secrecy and decides to take over the school in order to complete her exit exams. "Avi weaves together a fast-moving plot, solid characterizations, sharply tuned dialogue and a wealth of detail as he evokes rural Colorado in 1925," wrote PW. Ages 8-12. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
(Intermediate, Middle School) The opening sentence introduces a spunky and creative heroine: ÒOn a cool Monday morning in early April 1925, Ida Bidson, aged fourteen, carefully guided her familyÕs battered Model T Ford along a narrow, twisting dirt road in Elk Valley, Colorado.Ó Rather than walking the five miles to school, Ida gets her younger brother to work the clutch and brake from the floorboard while she sits on her feet to drive. This inventiveness is put to the test when the eight pupils in Elk Valley learn their teacher must leave before the spring term is over. For Ida, the worst part is that she and fellow eighth-grader Tom will be unable to take their qualifying tests for high school, denying Tom an opportunity to further his knowledge of electricity and Ida to fulfill her dreams of becoming a teacher. The two propose a solution: Ida will temporarily act as the teacher, in secret and without pay. Although several obstacles appear to thwart the plan, the optimistic support of influential adults helps. A few well-placed incidents (such as IdaÕs driving scheme) nicely develop character. Overall, though, Avi tells more than he shows and thus asks readers to do little more than pass a few pleasant hours with this satisfying but slight story. b.c. From HORN BOOK, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
School Library Journal Review
Gr 3-6-"I'm not so sure a girl needs a high school education," the head of a rural Colorado school board tells 14-year-old Ida Bidson in 1925. The one-room schoolhouse that she and seven other children attend is to be closed early, and if Ida and her friend Tom don't finish eighth grade and take their exams, they'll lose their chance to attend high school. Without a diploma, Ida will never fulfill her dream of becoming a teacher and seeing the world beyond the mountains. After Tom suggests that she could conduct the classes, the secret school commences and is subsequently threatened by a county administrator, the local school board, and an angry parent. Avi ably conveys an evocative sense of life in a poor, remote farming community just before the start of the Great Depression. He skillfully creates interesting, fully developed main and secondary characters. Ida's struggles with the difficulties of being both teacher and student and carrying out her duties at home, as well as her worry about whether or not the students will pass the exams, are suspensefully portrayed. Humorously effective descriptions, as in the Bidsons' old car "hiccuping like a damp firecracker," enliven the sense of hardships. The importance of education and dreaming of one's future are imparted in an entertaining way. This carefully plotted, enjoyable, old-fashioned tale of children taking control of a bad situation is a welcome addition to the literature of empowerment.-B. Allison Gray, South Country Library, Bellport, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
A strong-willed young woman pursues her educational dreams in this Andy Hardy-esque tale of a rural school in peril, circa 1925. When Miss Fletcher's mother's illness calls her away from her teaching position at a one-room Colorado schoolhouse, the school board president is transparent in his pleasure at the prospect of closing the school. Fourteen-year-old Ida Bidson is not-closing the school will mean missing the exams that would qualify her to go on to high school, effectively dashing her hopes of becoming a teacher. But all is not lost: the students vote to continue secretly, with Ida as their teacher. While the plot is entirely predictable-the mean school board president finds them out and tries to shut the school down, only to be defeated in a climactic public meeting-the characters are well-developed and appealing. Ida is a diminutive spitfire who steers the family's broken-down car while her little brother crouches on the floor to operate the gas and the clutch; her best friend Tom is a tinkerer whose home printing press saves the day; and even the most obstructive student in school is rendered sympathetically and with depth. Avi (Prairie School, p. 494, etc.) effectively conveys Ida's difficulty in balancing her new role as teacher within her already busy life as student, family member (and therefore helper on the family's sheep farm), and friend, and the details of one-room education are genuinely fascinating. This isn't heavy stuff, but it gives a glimpse into a past where, although the form of education may have been very different from today's, the problems facing the schools and students will be all too familiar to modern readers. (Fiction. 8-12)
Excerpts
Excerpts
OneON A COOL MONDAY morning in early April 1925, Ida Bidson, aged fourteen, carefully guided her family's battered Model T Ford along a narrow, twisting dirt road in Elk Valley, Colorado."Brake and clutch!" she shouted.Ida, only four-feet-eleven and unable to reach the floor of the car, knelt on the torn seat and gripped the steering wheel tightly. Her seven-year-old brother, Felix, hunched on the floor before her and used his hands to push the brake and clutch pedals down.As Ida adjusted the throttle lever, the battered car, hiccuping like a damp firecracker, swung into a sharp turn. "Less brake!" Ida called."Where we at?" Felix called up as he leaned onto the right pedal."It's 'Where are we?'" his older sister corrected."You're not my teacher! Just tell me!""We're close. Less brake!"The car bumped along, causing the old tin syrup can filled with their lunch to bounce on the seat beside Ida. Behind them, dust twirled out like an unraveling rope, momentarily hiding the high ring of snowcapped mountains that surrounded the valley.As the car churned up a hill-with enough backfiring to suggest a small war had erupted-Ida caught sight of Tom Kohl and his younger sister, Mary, riding bareback on their mule, Ruckus. Best friends, Ida and Tom were forever talking about all kinds of things: their plans, their friends, their families, what was going on in the valley.Seeing him, Ida grinned, reached over the door-the car had no windows-and squeezed the horn bulb attached to the outside of the car. Honnnk! Honnnk!At the loud gooselike sound, Ruckus gave a little buck. Though startled, Tom skillfully reined the mule to the side of the road, then turned around and pushed his floppy flaxen hair out of his eyes. Seeing Ida's slow-moving car, he smiled and yelled, "Get yourself a mule!""Join the twentieth century!" she shouted back."Who's there?" Felix called from the floor."Tom and Mary. Now pay attention. We're almost there. Brake easy!"The car finally rounded the last bend, bringing Elk Valley's schoolhouse into view. The building stood in the middle of its own small north-south valley, through which the dirt road ran. To the east low hills gave way to higher ground, woods, and mountains. West it was much the same. Squat and square, the school building had a pitched roof and a small bell steeple at the south end. The painted but peeling white clapboard walls had three windows on each side. Beyond the school stood two privies, one for boys and one for girls. To the south was a small shallow pond. In front of the school stood a flagpole not far from a water pump as well as a lopsided teeter-totter."Clutch to neutral and brake!" Ida shouted as she aimed the car toward its regular parking place, only to realize that another car-one she didn't recognize-was already there."Hold on!" Ida screamed. With all her strength, she turned the wheel hard about, then yelled, "Brake!" as she grabbed the hand lever and pulled back.Barely a Excerpted from The Secret School by Avi All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
