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The Crazy School by Cornelia Read

The Crazy School of the novel's title is Santangelo Academy in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts. It's 1989 and Madeline Dare is working at the school the locals refer to as "the crazy school," and it's the last hope for wealthy parents of troubled teenagers dealing with behavioral, substance abuse, or mental health issues. Madeline Dare finds it a bleak, depressing, and cruel place with a long list of strange and sadistic rules. She needs the job, however, and finds it hard to leave and abandon her students. When two of the students get in trouble and confide their secret in Madeline and then turn up dead, she finds that some of the teachers and staff are more suspicious and dangerous than the students. Cornelia Read's second novel has received positive reviews with BookReporter.com saying, "Madeline Dare redeems the oppressive atmosphere and the clouds of suspicion with her incisive narration, her biting wit and a nonstop stream of pop-culture references. Cornelia Read has turned out another sparkling performance here, more than worthy of your time and attention --- and that in no way is an overreach."