Book Review - Jonathan Stroud's The Dagger in the Desk
Published by: Disney-Hyperion
Publication Date: October 31st, 2013
Format: Kindle, 46 Pages
Rating: ★★★
To Buy
School is somewhere where you should feel safe. Many children haven't been afforded the luxury of school since the Problem. They are needed to protect society from the ghosts and ghouls and things that go bump in the night. They are the nation's first defense against the Problem. Therefore those lucky enough to receive an education deserve to feel safe. And the children attending St. Simeon’s Academy for Talented Youngsters have not been feeling safe. A ghost is stalking the halls and the headmaster is worried that the very sharp and very real dagger it wields might do harm to one of his students. Therefore he enlists the help of Lockwood and Co. After all they did get a big publicity bump after their handling of their perilous investigation of Combe Carey Hall. They agree to take the case and Lockwood, George, and Lucy show up at the Academy that same evening. They set up base in the library, which is a beautiful new structure, and fan out from there. They take in the classroom with the dagger but Lucy is being drawn to a closet. What could a janitor's closet have to do with the dagger? Soon they are under a supernatural attack, books are flying everywhere, and it's just another night's work for Lockwood and Co.
This short story was apparently conceived as a collaborative piece with The Guardian, where readers could decide the location and title. I have to say, I agree, schools are the perfect place for hauntings. It's not just all the trauma and hormones that give schools that creepy vibe, it's something extra. Something about them being empty when they are usually filled with life. My Mom was a school librarian, so I spent quite a lot of time in my old school after hours. It was always slightly disconcerting and unsettling, especially the number of janitors they went through because they refused to be in the building at night. Now I never saw anything spooky there, and I have been known to see spooky things. I was even there at the witching hour once or twice, but again, saw nothing, out it felt off. I really enjoyed how this short story tapped into this unease. What's more, school is a place where Lockwood, George, and Lucy, wouldn't be attending, because they are so good at their job. So it was wistful and creepy. Though the worst crime the ghost did was to harm all those books in that beautiful new library!
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