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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.
Reviews (4)
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.
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.
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)