Fans of Mary Poppins will love this whimsical tale of a boarding school for children of very busy parents, where an extraordinary headmistress teaches them life lessons about courage, adventure, friendship . . . and the importance of birthday cake.
Nestled inside a lighthouse, Great Rapscott School for the Daughters of Busy Parents takes its motto from Amelia Earhart: Adventure is worthwhile in itself. Headmistress Ms. Rapscott couldn’t agree more, but her students, who are shipped to the school in boxes, could use a little convincing. Still, despite their initial reluctance, the students are soon soaring through the sky and getting lost on purpose. In addition to learning what birthday cakes are and how best to approach a bumbershoot tree, the students also manage to learn a little something about strength and bravery.
Bestselling author Elise Primavera has created an irresistible, richly illustrated story about finding your way.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful.
Quirky New Middle Grades Boarding School Fantasy
By Annette Lamb
MS. RAPSCOTT’S GIRLS by Elise Primavera is a quirky middle grades boarding school fantasy.A group of reluctant 8-year-old girls arrive at the Great Rapscott School for Girls of Busy Parents to find one child missing. While in search for their missing classmate, they learn important lessons about bravery, self-reliance, and friendship. Although the premise is absurd, some readers will empathize with the characters who have absent parents. Although the clever, sophisticated humor will be lost on some younger children, older readers will find the humor appealing.Primavera’s interesting characters, easy-to-read writing style, and balance of descriptive versus dialogue segments were just right for lower, middle grade readers.The book begins and ends with beautiful illustrations showing the isolated, but fascinating lighthouse setting. Numerous black-and-white drawings are then woven throughout the story.Intended to be the first in a new series, librarians will find this to be a pleasing addition to the collection. With mostly female characters, it’s likely to appeal to young girls rather than boys.Learn more about the author at http://www.eliseprimavera.com/.Published by Dial on March 10, 2015.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.School is in Session!
By Loralee Petersen
I have loved Elise Primavera’s work ever since I read Auntie Claus. What a wonderful, playful imagination she has. I also enjoyed the fun but seriously odd tale of the Gum Street Girls. So when I saw that she had a new book out, I checked the audio version out as soon as it was available at my library.The audio version is read by the talented Katherine Kellgren, winner of the 2011 young adult best voice in fantasy and science fiction and an Audiofile Golden Voice. She did an excellent job of bringing Miss Rapscott and her girls to life through all their adventures.Miss Rapscott runs a school for children of very busy parents. In fact, only the daughters of the world’s top 5 busiest couples are admitted. Their system is irresistibly easy to busy parents. Miss Rapscott simply mails them a large carton with instructions for mailing their child to the school.Four girls arrive at the school, but the fifth box is empty. Dahlia Thistle’s parents forgot to seal her box and she has somehow fallen out. Miss Rapscott and her two corgi assistants, Lewis and Clark, seem unconcerned but classmate Fay is determined to find Dahlia. Meanwhile the girls are busy learning all the things their parents never taught them because they are so extremely busy. Things like how to cross the street and to always change your underwear. The girls have difficulty getting along at first because making friends is also something their parents haven’t taught them to do. And they are not sure what to make of Mrs. Rapscott’s odd lessons or her course in “Finding your way” which requires them to get utterly lost on purpose to begin with but eventually they gel into a team that is capable of finding out what happened to Dahlia Thistle.Brimming with magic and humor and seasoned with a dash of mystery, this book is pure fun for middle grade readers.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.
Such a fun adventure, such whimsical
By Lisa M DeSelm
I'm trying to read up on children's and middle grade fiction, while working on my own middle grade fiction novel, and I came across this and was instantly drawn to it! My 8 year-old self (buried in my current 34-year-old one) would have worn this book dog-eared! Such a fun adventure, such whimsical, funny characters - Ms. Rapscott is definitely a teacher to love. Her illustrations are also really fun and sweet. I hope Elise Primavera gets the chance to continue their story in a future book
