Item: The Castle School (for Troubled Girls)
Rating: 4.00
Author: helenfarch

by Alyssa Sheinmel

Set in an experimental boarding school for teens dealing with trauma, The Castle School (for Troubled Girls) follows one girl's journey through grief and her eleven classmates, each with their own issues, that help her find a path to healing. Perfect for fans of Kathleen Glasgow, this atmospheric, emotional tear-jerker will leave you speechless.
When Moira Dreyfuss's parents announce that they're sending her to an all-girls boarding school deep in the Maine woods, Moira isn't fooled. She knows her parents are punishing her; she's been too much trouble since her best friend, Nathan, died—and for a while before that. At the Castle School, isolated from the rest of the world, Moira will be expected to pour her heart out to the odd headmaster, Dr. Prince. But she isn't interested in getting over Nathan's death or befriending her fellow students.
On her first night there, Moira hears distant music. On her second, she discovers the lock on her window is broken. On her third, she and her roommate venture outside…and learn that they're not so isolated after all. There's another, very different, Castle School nearby—this one filled with boys whose parents sent them away, too.
Moira is convinced that the Castle Schools and the doctors who run them are hiding something. But exploring the schools will force Moira to confront her overwhelming grief—and the real reasons her parents sent her away.
Praise for The Castle School (for Troubled Girls):
"Achingly beautiful. Moira's story gripped me from the first page and held me fast long after I finished reading."—Gilly Segal, New York Times bestselling co-author of I'm Not Dying with You Tonight
"Hooked me from page one. I couldn't stop reading until I had every single answer."—Francesca Zappia, author of Eliza and Her Monsters
"Beneath the trappings of a fast-paced mystery, this novel holds a heartrending exploration of adolescent grief... Memorable."—Booklist
"Complex and layered... A heartfelt exploration of grief, guilt, and recovery."—School Library Journal
"Mental health awareness wrapped in a captivating storyline."—Kirkus
"An effective exploration of mental illness, and it will share a coveted place on reading lists with Laurie Halse Anderson and Patricia McCormick."—BCCB
Also by Alyssa Sheinmel:
A Danger to Herself and Others
What Kind of Girl

Moira's parents don't know what to do with her. She hasn't been the same since her best friend Nathan died, she's been skipping school, disappearing in the middle of the night, and now she had a tattoo. At least, that is what she thinks when they send her away to a remote boarding school, the Castle School.

Moira knows she doesn't need to be here. She doesn't need therapy or help. How else is she meant to be feeling when Nathan is gone? And the Castle school certainly seems like a punishment - no phones, curfews, sharing a room, therapy sessions. The only good thing about this school is Randy, the son of headmaster Dr Prince.

But late at night, Moira hears faint music coming from the woods. Where can it be coming from given their isolation? So, Moria and her roommate decide to explore, made possible by a broken lock on their window.
What they find when following the music is another Castle school, This one is all boys and it is run by a different Dr Prince, the wife of their own Dr Prince. And they have all the freedoms that the girls have had taken away.

And so begins a nightly ritual of the girls sneaking over to the boys' school.

But as Moira gets to know the other girls, as she starts to engage with Dr Prince in their therapy sessions, as she gets to know Randy more, she begins to question everything. Did her parents really send her away because they didn't know what else to do with her? Is she really to blame for how Nathan died?

This book surprised me. From the title I expected another boarding school psychological thriller. But it is so much more. This is a masterful and realistic exploration into mental health, with sensitive portrayals of each of the issues that the individual girls are living with.

Thanks to Sourcebooks Fire and Netgalley for the ARC.

The Castle School (for Troubled Girls)

by Alyssa Sheinmel

Reviewed by helenfarch on Nov 13, 2020

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