Before we get to today’s fabulous spotlight, I want to thank everyone for the book love on my last post, and for giving Cindy a boost in this buildup to the release for her first novel. <3 Huzzah and hooray for beautiful new books going out in the world, and hooray for all readers! The winner of the autographed copy of Where the Watermelons Grow is: Danielle! So many congratulations!

Many thanks again to all of you, and to Cindy for sharing so generously of herself. I love the way interviews give me a glimpse inside the minds of my fellow writers, and my friends, too!

Now, on to this week’s spotlight on Soman Chainani’s The School for Good and Evil!

My regular followers may remember my mentioning an SCBWI novel retreat I went to back in April. There were lots of stellar editors in attendance, and thanks to one in particular–Phoebe Yeh–I walked away with a determination to finally track down a copy of The School for Good and Evil and read it for myself. And it did not disappoint!

This is the story of two girls who are friends despite being opposites. Sophie is the belle of their little village, the princess of her kingdom. She’s got the classical fairy tale good looks with blonde hair and blue eyes, and she’s something of an expert on maximizing her beauty strengths, no matter how many cucumbers must be sacrificed to the cause. Agatha on the other hand, is perfect witch material and about as graceful as her name. She clomps around in heavy shoes wearing shapeless black, and her eyes are described as bulging. She even lives in a graveyard. But because Agatha is friendless but aches for a friend more than she’d like to admit, and Sophie is a firm believer in doing good deeds and can’t tolerate most people, the unlikely pair are best friends. Sophie, at least, expects that they’ll continue to know each other once they’re magically taken by the School Master to The School for Good and Evil, where Sophie will join the side of good and Agatha the side of evil.

But it doesn’t work out quite that way. On the night the girls are brought to the school, there appears to be a mix up and Sophie is dumped into evil, while Agatha finds herself in good. It’s instantly obvious to everyone–including their peers–that a major mistake has been made, but nothing the girls do can fix it. And believe me, they make a solid effort!

The story feels a lot like a madcap romp, so pinning down exactly what it’s about is difficult to manage. You could easily argue that it’s about free will, and bucking foreordination. In other words, not being a pawn.

That’s certainly a strong theme, and the question of fate and whether we have a choice about the course of our lives is explored at length, both by Sophie and Agatha, and also through the stories of those around them like King Arthor’s son, Tedros. In a way, that’s the great question both sides of the school are grappling with, and maybe even the school master himself.

But I think any discussion of the book would be remiss without talking about what it means to be a friend–and when someone crosses over from friend to frenemy. Questions which the girls explore are what sacrifices is it fair for a friend to ask? When should a wronged friend forgive? And what is an adequate price to pay for friendship?

I won’t go into the answers, but recommend exploring the book in order to participate in the discussion! Now, let’s see what Apricot-kitty has to say:

“It was good–kind of like a wild scamper in the middle of the night. Too bad Agatha’s cat couldn’t go with, though. And I wasn’t sure what to make of the ending. I thought fairy tales ended with ‘and they all lived happily ever after?'”

Ah, yes, the book does close with less an ending and more a segue into the second book. It didn’t bother me, since it mostly wrapped up the plot arc of this book, but it’s definitely not the end of the story. I suspect that’s something most readers will be happy to learn!

What’s your take on series, and books that roll quickly from one to the next? Are you a fan, or do you prefer stand-alones? Tell me in the comments, and be sure to stop by our Marvelous Middle Grade Monday host, for the full roundup on Greg Pattridge’s blog! Happy reading!

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