The most recommended books about boarding school

Rich boarding school meets murder mystery in Jesse Q. Sutanto’s The New Girl—except main character Lia Setiawan is anything but wealthy, and we already know she’s the killer.

It was an accident, but that doesn’t stop her from worrying about going to prison for her teacher’s murder as the detectives circle the drain. I laughed out loud so many times while I flew through this book, the question of whether she’d get caught ripping me to shreds in anticipation.

There are no spoilers here, but I’ll tell you it’s worth the wild ride.

I love time travel stories. Stories where protagonists swap lives with other people are so much about acculturation and “passing.” Dislocation, confusion, etc. aside, the main issue is to not be found out. In the story, Charlotte is not always herself. Sometimes she’s in a boarding school in the fifties and sometimes she’s back in time at the same boarding school in the First World War. So we’re dealing with a borrowed life here. The life that Charlotte sometimes borrows belongs to Clare. Charlotte has very little in common with Clare. And even less knowledge of how establishments like this worked back in the day. Some quick learning and imitative skills are needed if she is not to be caught. For instance, she has to deduce what others expect and require of her. But she also has to not lose herself in all this pretense. 

When I came to the… show more.

I love the way this book tells so much with such economy.

Having been thrown unwillingly into a teaching position myself, I could readily identify with the young and awkward Mr. Chipping, whose unassuming nature is at odds with the authoritarian discipline expected of the Victorian schoolmaster.

But Chipping learns that authority can also be exercised through gentleness, understanding, and humour; and I have this book to credit for teaching me that lesson, too. I’m also a history buff, and this book gives an enriching overview of the massive changes that occurred during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

The more I read of that period, the more this book resonates with me. 

I actually got to read this book before it was published because Jessica Freely was in my writer's group.

I fell in love with the characters and was thrilled whenever we got a new chapter. The plot twists and turns, and the finale is nail-biting suspense with mind-altering twists along the way.

It’s a book I wish I had written. Jessica passed away last year, but this novel is a powerful legacy.

The romance between Anna and Étienne had me captivated.

It spoke to the part of me that believes in the unpredictability of love. I found myself rooting for them like they were my real-life friends. The Parisian backdrop only intensified my love for this book, tapping into my own memories of youthful, globe-trotting romances.

Also a YA/Teen historical fantasy story with magic. It reminds me of a little Harry Potter in girl version that I like. It is entertaining and refreshing. The 14-year-old Sarah Smith has a secret. That she's not a member of Guardians the noble magical class that now rules the world. But as one of the non-magical Snipes who possesses magic, her secret must be kept so that she—and her family—can survive. So she has to blend in with the magical class. And attend school for wealthy magical ladies.

I met Kevin Sacco when he was an advertising storyboard artist. Kevin knew how to sell the story of an ad simply and dramatically in a series of graphic panels with an economy of words. In Sevenoaks, I see the same brain at work. His book is based on his life: a ‘60s-era New York City high school kid sent to an elite private school outside London. Sacco’s distinctive elongated and restrained figures, beautifully drawn geometric and airy cityscapes, and genial pace can lull one into a sense of calm, so that his moments of high and even magical drama slice more deeply into the emotions. One might be surprised to discover an unexpected tear.

For this book, Lajimodiere dedicated much time and effort over years to listen and record boarding school experiences of Native Americans, especially in the northern Plains, acknowledging different forms of schools that threatened Native American lives, families, and peoplehood. Her book encapsulates the voices of the survivors who testify of their struggles and those who did not survive the boarding school colonizing machine that sought to control Indigenous youth and their communities.

Lajimodiere epitomizes an activist scholar who has worked to trace as many Indian boarding schools in the United States as possible, and she has been foundational to the development of the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition that is spearheading efforts for truth and healing from the adverse impacts and legacies of boarding schools.

This book follows the main characters and their journey through finding young love, dealing with loss, and becoming resilient to what life throws them. The art in this book is a wonderful blend of fantasy and science fiction.

I love how the story plops you into the world but doesn’t explain how everything works. Stories without info dumps make me feel like the author trusts their characters, and visuals can stand alone. 

This book was written in the 1930s, yet it feels remarkably contemporary – a glorious romp through a world of parties, sex, and drugs. Miss Pettigrew stumbles into this world when she mistakenly turns up for the wrong job. With little money in her purse she has no option but to take the position and finds herself having an awful lot more fun than she ever has before. And for once she is really appreciated.