The Secret School

By: Avi

I loved this story about Ida Bidson and her perserverance to become a teacher no matter what it takes! This story is set in Elk Valley, Colorado in 1925. Ida and her brother, Felix, attend school in a one-room schoolhouse with six other students of various ages. Ida's teacher, Miss Fletcher, must leave town to care for a sick relative and without the teacher, the superintendent closes the school. This is bad news for Ida because she will not be able to take her final exam and move on to high school. She then has an idea that she will be the teacher and school will be a secret. (I felt I needed to give a little background.)

What I love about Ida is her perseverance and determination to teach these other children despite needing to study for her own exam. Ida is responsible for chores before going to school and after school. Then, she needs to prepare her lessons to teach and then do some studying herself. She works very hard and the reader can see Ida is such an unselfish person. She's very caring, determined, and strong willed. Even when the superintendent says that girls don't need to go to school, Ida does not let this stop her.

The author made it very clear in his descriptions that the setting is in the 1920's. One student rode an animal to school. Felix and Ida had to wind up their car to get it started. The schoolhouse was only one room with students of vast ages in attendance. Ida's best friend (whom she had a slight crush on) was fiddling with getting a radio to work. Also, the story was enriched with vocabulary. Teachers could (and should) really take advantage of this if using this story as a classroom assigned reading or a read aloud.

At the end of the story, there was a small interview with the author and it was asked where he got the inspiration for this story. He has a mountain home in Elk Valley, Colorado where this story is based and in writing this story, he stated he read a lot about one-room schoolhouses and knew some people who attended them. It was also noted that self-reliance is a theme in The Secret School and Avi was asked why this was. He stated, "Young people live in a world controlled, shaped, and ordered by older people. To become more than a child you must take charge of your own fate" (157). I thought this was interesting. I love to read about what an author's inspiration is for a certain book.