Horn Book (Thu Apr 01 00:00:00 CDT 2010)

Madeleine, Theo, Lulu, and Garrison are enrolled in an unconventional secret institution, the curriculum aimed at overcoming the children's phobias. The story is weakened by imprecise grammar and overwrought prose ("A horrific desire to extol Theo on the rules of life...abounded as [Garrison] watched the boy blubber"). Fans of Lemony Snicket may enjoy the over-the-top twists.

Kirkus Reviews

The course of instruction at a school for phobic children turns out to be anything but conventional in this hyperbolically arch romp. Having carried their fears to such extremes that parents, counselors and doctors are powerless to help, Madeleine (spiders and insects), Lucy (claustrophobia), Garrison (water) and Theo (death) find themselves trucked off to an isolated Massachusetts mansion. Its facilities include a well-stocked "Fearnasium," breakfast consists of "casu frazigu" (maggot cheese) sandwiches produced by a blind and crusty octogenarian cook/caretaker and the teacher is Mrs. Wellington, an ancient exbeauty queen who claims to be able to train cats. Daneshvari takes this setup and runs with it, injecting plenty of droll dialogue and plunging the four students into one challenging, chaotic situation after another. Gifford's fine-lined vignettes add suitably tongue-in-cheek visual notes. The children prove more resilient than even they expect, and the closing revelation that Mrs. Wellington's boast is actually true is just one of several surprises that the author springs at the end. Look for plenty of eye-rolling and head-shaking from urbane readers. (Fiction. 11-13)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Imagine a humorous middle-grade novel by a less self-absorbed Woody Allen to get an idea of this intelligent and witty children’s debut. Daneshvari assembles a precocious cast of 12- and 13-year-olds with outsize fears, including Madeleine, whose obsessive fear of insects keeps her drenched in bug repellant; Theo, “the most dramatic, hysterical, and neurotic boy in the borough of Manhattan”; brazen Lulu, with crippling claustrophobia; and hydrophobic Garrison. Desperate families entrust these kids to Mrs. Wellington, the snarky “deranged beauty queen” of a headmistress at the secretive and fairly terrifying School of Fear (“Perhaps when the summer is finished you’ll write a letter to the board of camps to complain,” Mrs. Wellington tells the children when they learn they are the sole campers. “And please do not let the board’s hypothetical status deter you”). What ensues is tautly paced, spine-tingling and quite funny, as the children overcome their fears and learn to work as a team. The ending proves as clever as the premise and shows that while everyone is afraid of something, tremendous achievements can be won by facing fear head-on. Final art not seen by <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">PW. Ages 8–12. <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">(Sept.)

School Library Journal

Gr 4-6 "Large glass lanterns [hung] from rusted old chains." Descriptions like this one set the scene for a secret, yet elite school for eradicating children's fears. Four 12-year-olds are sent there with the hope that they'll overcome fears of bugs, confined spaces, water, and death. When they arrive, they discover that they are the only students in a school run by a seemingly crazy ex-beauty queen. Forced to learn waving and proper pageant smiling for hours on end, the students wonder if they'll ever escape. Of course, they must face their fears in order to get away and bring back help for a servant. The school isn't what it seems, and the villains aren't who they appear to be. The story is hilarious for its over-the-top gloominess. Each chapter begins with the definition of a type of fear, e.g., arachibutyrophobia (the fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth). Suggest this one to fans of Lemony Snicket's "A Series of Unfortunate Events" (HarperCollins). Kelly Roth, Bartow County Public Library, Cartersville, GA

ALA Booklist

Although it starts out shakily as it flatfootedly introduces the four incoming students of the mysterious School of Fear, Daneshvari's debut children's book gains momentum as the school's headmistress unleashes her wildly unconventional curriculum, designed to help children overcome their phobias. Like Willy Wonka, Mrs. Wellington is an eccentric and highly suspect leader; she seems to disdain her charges and their petty fears. The fears are not small to the four kids though deleine is petrified of spiders and insects, Theo can't bear the thought of death, Lulu hates confined spaces, and Garrison, the group's jock, dreads even the sight of deep water. Each chapter opens with "Everyone's Afraid of Something," followed by a definition of a phobia, reminding readers of the school's mission and the characters' challenges, yet sometimes the details and plot developments seem haphazardly dispensed. Ultimately the unnerved students unite as a team and take part in a heroic, character-building, fear-slaying attempt to right a notorious wrong. Gifford's illustrations impart a fitting, neo-Charles Addams vibe.