The Academy

by Bentley Little

book data

107 ratings, 3.46 average rating, 22 reviews (more data...)

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4		23%
3		40%
2		12%
1		2%

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published

August 5th 2008 by Signet (first published 2008)

details

Paperback, 400 pages

isbn

0451224671 (isbn13: 9780451224675)

description

Heres one good reason for staying home from school...

Something strange is happening at Tyler High. The laid-back principal has become unusually str…more

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Dec 12, 2008

Anderson rated it:

Nick Anderson

Mrs. Baltz

Pre-AP English 10

December 11, 2008

The Academy By: Bentley Little

John Tyler High School closed down last year. A lot of teachers were worried about what they were going to do for jobs. Luckily Linda Webster one of the English teachers received a letter from the Principal Jody Hawkes saying that the district was going to have a meeting about the future of Tyler High School. The meeting was about Tyler High becomin...more Nick Anderson

Mrs. Baltz

Pre-AP English 10

December 11, 2008

The Academy By: Bentley Little

John Tyler High School closed down last year. A lot of teachers were worried about what they were going to do for jobs. Luckily Linda Webster one of the English teachers received a letter from the Principal Jody Hawkes saying that the district was going to have a meeting about the future of Tyler High School. The meeting was about Tyler High becoming a charter school. They would be free to teach the way the wanted, not worry about the controlling school board, and the principal would be the one in charge.

Brad Becker and Ed Haynes have been friends since the third grade. They are now seniors at Tyler and were looking forward to their last year of school. Myla Ellis is the Vice president of the student council. She is Brad’s girlfriend. Throughout the story Ed, Brad, and Myla encounter many strange and scary things about the school. For example, Brad and Myla were on a date and they decided to check up on a hunch they had about their friend Cheryl and the PE coach Mr. Nicholson having “intimate” encounters. They went to the school and while checking the halls they heard a loud BANG! It came from the lockers. It happened again, and again, until the locker finally flew open, but fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, nothing was in the locker.

Carlos and Rakeem are janitors at the high school and have been working the night shift for some time now. Here lately many weird things have been happening at night. Things are so bad that it is scaring two grown men to death. One night Carlos and Rakeem are cleaning up after a PTA meeting and they find a picture. The picture looks like it was out of an old Polaroid camera, but the picture itself was of the PTA meeting that evening. On top of one of the buildings in the picture was a small boy. The janitors thought nothing of it and kept working. While moving a table they notice something slide off and fall on the ground. Carlos grabs it and freaks out, as does Rakeem. The picture is of them moving that very table! In a frantic, Carlos and Rakeem take off to their cars on the other side of campus, but the school started “attacking” them. Let’s just say Carlos and Rakeem “did not make it.”

This book was probably one of the worst books I have ever read! I would rather “Slam my head in a car door than read this again.” It was extremely explicit and vulgar. I do not mind that sometimes, but it was on almost every page and the stuff gets old. I did not like the fact that it had three different stories going on all the time. You had the teachers’ side, then the kids’ side, then the janitors’ side, until they were killed. You could be reading about the teachers in one paragraph and then read about the kids in the next. It was very confusing and I do not like that stuff in my book. I can handle it every chapter or something like that, but not between paragraphs.

The book did have some strong points though. At times, the book was somewhat scary. However, to be a horror novel it should be a little scarier than this book. All in all this book has more bad points than good and I will not be reading any more books by this author if I can help it.

Pages: 391

genre: horror/fiction(less)

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Nov 30, 2008

Joanne rated it:

bookshelves: 2009-reads, owned

Read in January, 2009

Bentley Little has always been a favourite horror author of mine. The books I enjoy most by Little are the ones that follow a very simple formula. Take something very ordinary and twist it slowly, until you’ve reached a conclusion that is utterly unbelievable. Sounds pretty easy, however with Bentley Little in control, it’s unclear to the reader just when (and how) things got so f*cked up. With his stories, it’s not until the world is shaking under the weight of perversion, that you realiz...more Bentley Little has always been a favourite horror author of mine. The books I enjoy most by Little are the ones that follow a very simple formula. Take something very ordinary and twist it slowly, until you’ve reached a conclusion that is utterly unbelievable. Sounds pretty easy, however with Bentley Little in control, it’s unclear to the reader just when (and how) things got so f*cked up. With his stories, it’s not until the world is shaking under the weight of perversion, that you realize there’s no turning back. “It was just a normal day, like any other, until … and then … oh good lord what’s going on …. arrgghhh!”

So let’s talk about The Academy. Tyler High is a typical high school operating under the rules and regulations of the school board, which means that the teachers really don’t have much freedom in what and how they teach their students. Religion and political affiliation of school board members reflects on the approved curriculum, so when the staff and parents of Tyler High find out they are going to become an independent school, free from what they feel is harming the educational system, of course they are ecstatic. But they never really considered what a powerful position this will put the principal and the charter committee in. While they gain independence from one awful bureaucracy, they slowly come to see they have lost any protection from this new assembly of power.

Building a wall around the school to protect students? Well okay, it does provide safety to the students. Creating a group of student hall monitors? Sure, that would mean less students skipping. A new school uniform for all students and staff? Alright, school solidarity and all that. Mandatory parental participation in school events? What a great way to get dead-beat parents involved with their kids education. Take all these examples one at a time and they seem acceptable, if a bit over-done. But flesh out these ideas and you’ll get an idea of where the horror comes sneaking in. Is that wall to keep people out or keep people in? The hall monitors are very much like the Hitler Youth – organized, powerful and trained to use violent means as they see fit. Regular public strip downs to ensure that your Tyler High underwear are clean. And that parental involvement may include posing nude for art classes, failure to do so results in large monetary fines or harsh physical punishments.

Pretty strange how commonplace things, can be tweaked like that. That’s the appeal Bentley Little’s writing holds for me. I like feeling comfortable, while behind the scenes things are mutating and suddenly the rug is pulled out from under me. The characters that fill his stories are also average Joe's, so it’s interesting to consider how you would react if placed in their situations. He also has an incredible ability to satirize all the things in life we would never consider abnormal. Some of his books make alot of sense in a very paranoid, conspiracy-seeking way. As a parent, I’ve always felt the educational system a farce, but never would I have imagined this alternative. However after reading The Academy I’ll have fun at the next PTA meeting thinking about just what goes on behind closed doors. Overall Bentley Little’s horror is fun escapist reading for me, but there is quite a bit behind his words that could inspire a person to look a bit closer and not take everything at face-value.

(Ever wonder about the Wal-Mart craze that seems to have taken over the world? Check out The Store by Bentley Little – good, clean, All-American fun) :P(less)

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Aug 18, 2008

Stuart Nachbar rated it:

A Charter School Horror Story

I am not a huge fan of the horror genre, but as an education writer I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to read a horror story set in a charter school. That has to be a high-water mark for the charter school movement, to become a subject front and center in a mass-market chiller. The Academy, written by Bentley Little, is about a California high school, the fictional John Tyler High, that elects to go charter to get out of from under the grasp of a funda...more A Charter School Horror Story

I am not a huge fan of the horror genre, but as an education writer I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to read a horror story set in a charter school. That has to be a high-water mark for the charter school movement, to become a subject front and center in a mass-market chiller. The Academy, written by Bentley Little, is about a California high school, the fictional John Tyler High, that elects to go charter to get out of from under the grasp of a fundamentalist school board. Much of the politics of charter schools is covered in the novel, but there are several twists.

John Tyler High is not run as a democracy, but as a principal’s personal dictatorship. There is forced parental involvement—with a financial penalty, as well as a loyalty oath to pledge allegiance to the school. The principal turns students into paramilitary scouts to spy on their classmates and inform on the teachers too. While the principal’s totalitarianism reaches heights of fear and deceit, many teachers descend to the lowest lows; there is corporal punishment, sexual abuse of mothers and students by the faculty, and rebuttal of the separation of church and state—all condoned by the administration. Teachers and students in support of the principal behave like zombies and the school community crumbles in fear. The library and the basketball courts are the most dreaded public spaces at John Tyler and the place is locked down during the school day, like a prison. And, as always in horror novels: good people die.

Horror and the idea of a haunted school aside, Little has caught onto some of the most debated issues on charter schools: school uniforms (down to the underwear in this story); teachers exchanging tenure for more creative license and latitude in the classroom; the lack of a teacher’s union to be a grievance manager for the faculty; the potential for teachers and administrators to direct the poorest students to leave because they will have a negative impact on the school’s performance on standardized tests. These are the real-life scary parts, and they help steer the story.

The teacher hero in The Academy strongly believes in the thought behind charter schools however she is forced to team with three students to destroy the written charter in order to exorcise the demons from John Tyler High. That was the place where the story went south for me; fortunately it was near the end. There is a history to the haunted nature of the place, though it took a while to get there.

The writing held my attention, but that was because I am familiar with charter schools. I don’t know how the leaders in the charter school movement will react to The Academy, but I’d be curious to find out what they think. I can’t take a horror novel too seriously, but I am aware of educators who would like to ban Harry Potter and similar stories from the classroom. I’d love to read their comments on The Academy now that they have the chance to read mine.(less)

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Oct 20, 2009

Chris rated it:

Little is one of my favorites, and despite the book's slow start, it--for the most part--satisfies. All the usual Little horror hallmarks are present in this inventively original horror story, if an albeit slightly quick ending, I liked this novel. Little has been espousing his political beliefs in the past few books and while I know every author has a right to do this, I kinda wish he'd not. It is subtle, but there. Having said that, I recommend this to Little readers and new ones.

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Aug 23, 2009

Lee rated it:

bookshelves: horror, paranormal-supernatural

Read in August, 2009

A good read. I would've liked for more of a history/explanation on some of the events and on The Academy and it's founders, but as it is, it's a solid, enjoyable read.

I actually found it to be far less graphic than some of Little's other works.

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Nov 15, 2009

Clint Heitz rated it:

bookshelves: horror-series

Read in January, 2007

recommends it for: teachers, Stephen King Fans

As a teacher, I found this book to be humorous on top of the horror. In what seems to be a sort of response to NCLB, Little paints the image of a charter school as an evil being, hell bent on wreaking havoc.

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Mar 27, 2009

Bob added it

Read in March, 2009

Superior Bentley Little but firmly in his routine storyline--Something fairly normal--in this case, a high school--turns a little weird and gets consistently weirder and weirder until the end. Next!

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Nov 16, 2008

Chris rated it:

Unlike a lot of Little's recent novels, this one didn't suck. In fact, it's somewhat decent and actually a compelling read in the vein of The Town, The House and The Store. If you liked those, give it a shot. If you're expecting something on par with Hemingway, keep going.

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Oct 15, 2009

Nathalie rated it:

Read in October, 2009

Worse book I have ever read!

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Dec 05, 2008

Mark rated it:

Read in December, 2008

So far the book is good and it is very interesting.

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Sep 09, 2008

Tressa rated it:

bookshelves: horror

Read in September, 2008

recommends it for: horror fans

OK. I'll admit that I've been a Bentley Little fan for years. I love how he shocks me with innappropriate action that occurs in an innocent setting, e.g. a mega-store; a postal route; a luxury resort. But his shtick is getting a little too formulaic for my tastes.

This book reminded me of so many of his others: The University; The Store; The Policy.

His The Ignored and The Postman stray a little from the formula and were enjoyable.

Keep writing, Bentley, but shak...more

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Jul 30, 2008

Deidre rated it:

Read in August, 2008

Ok, so I gotta say I'm not sure if I liked this book a whole lot or not. I LOVE Bentley Little and have for years, but I do not think that this is his best work. It just didn't seem to me like he put a whole lot of thought into this story. It got kind of slow at some points and completely confusing at other points. Nothing could EVER turn me against Bentley Little, but this was not one of my favorites. I would put it right down there at the bottom with The Ignored.

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Mar 16, 2009

Kelley rated it:

bookshelves: 2009

Read in March, 2009

The premise of this book was really good and it was a fast, quick read but the author got WAY too graphic with inappropriate things with high schoolers so I had to abandon this book.

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Aug 15, 2008

Jason rated it:

Read in August, 2008

I picked this one up with the expectations of it being a quick read that provides some decent entertainment. I was quite surprised how I got sucked into it pretty quick and found some attachments to a couple characters. Not my favorite Little book but this was plain and simple a quick and entertaining read.

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Apr 16, 2009

Jennifer rated it:

(review of isbn 0739499793)

Owns a copy — Read in July, 2009

Actual rating 3 1/2 stars.

First novel I read by this author. I will definitely check out some of his other work. I love the way he took something seemingly normal--in this case, a school becoming a charter school--and slowly twisted it until it became something horrifying.

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Oct 28, 2008

Anthony rated it:

Read in November, 2009

Normally, I'm pretty enamored of Little....however, I felt like he kind of "phoned it in" on this one. The characters weren't particularly fleshed out, and the plot is a bit weak...without much explanation at the end of "why". VERY predictable.

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Oct 02, 2008

I.E. Lester rated it:

Read in September, 2008

A US high school botes to go independent and become a charter school. All normal you might think but there's more going on than a simple change of structure. Things start to get creepy real quick. Great stuff.

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Oct 25, 2008

Christen rated it:

Read in October, 2008

recommends it for: No One

A co-worker loaned me a copy of this book after talking about horror books she had read. I was shocked by the story and unimpressed by the ending. I'm not sure if I'd ever read it again.

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Nov 16, 2009

Sandra Bannerman rated it:

Read in November, 2009

Haunted charter schools???? Hmmmmm, this book didn't quite do it for me. At some point I just had to start skimming through just to get to the point.....

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