Monday 5 September 2016

Fear Itself - Andrew Clements - Benjamin Pratt & Keepers of the School Book 2

Fear Itself
Benjamin Pratt & Keepers of the School Book 2
Andrew Clements
Adam Stower (Illustrator)
Atheneum Books for Young Readers
A Division of Simon and Schuster

ISBN 9781416938873
ASIN B007I785KU




I have now read 10 books by Andrew Clements over the last few months. This is the second book of his from a series that I have read. It is interesting seeing him comeback to the same characters and extend the story in a way that he has not done with most of his other novels. And with 3 more books to go in this eries it will be interesting to see where he takes us. Both of the first books have been great reads. This volume continues directly from book one We the Children.



In this volume Ben and Jill are trying to follow the clues to the secrets that were left behind that were intended to save the school. But they also realize that the dangers from My Lyman the fake janitor at their school is much greater than they had expected. He seems to be following them everywhere. So they have a lot on their mind, with only 3 weeks until the school will be vacated and is scheduled to be demolished they need to figure out the clues from the past Keepers of the School. They also need to stay out of My Layman's clutches and keep him away from what they are finding. And from the clues figure out a way to save the school. That is a tall order for kids on any day, but Ben is dealing with his parents having been separated for months and Jill's parents are fighting again over the whole school issue. Life just seems to keep getting more and more complicated for these two. 



The story will really keep young readers glued to the pages. And the illustrations by Adam Stower really add to the story, and there are many throughout the book. Mostly they are pen and ink sketches. This volume has a red cover and all the illustrations in the ebook version are done in black and white and red. 

One of the greatest strengths of Clements writing is his characters. And in this series because it will span the 5 books we get to see more about the characters than we do in many of his standalone books. We seem the characters struggling with hope, with their home life and with the weight of the responsibility of trying to save the school.

I have said before that this book could likely be published in a large omnibus edition, but I fear that the size would be intimidating to many readers. It will be interesting to see how the series progresses over the remaining three books. I know that I was hooked after book one and even more so now. I will finish this series and also likely many, many other books by Andrew Clements.

This was another very good read in an excellent series. I have yet to come across a book by Andrew Clements that I cannot highly recommend. And this book and series is no exceptions. 


Books by Andrew Clements:
Bird Adalbert
Noah and the Ark and the Animals
Santa's Secret Helper
Temple Cat
Mother Earth's Counting Book
Billy and the Bad Teacher
Who Owns the Cow
Bright Christmas: An Angel Remembers
Frindle 
(Adapter)Philipp's Birthday Book
Riff's BeBop Book
Real Monsters Go for the Mold
Things That Go EEK on Halloween
Real Monsters Stage Fright
Music Time, Any Time
Double Trouble in Walla Walla
Workshop
Gromble's Haunted Halloween
Hey Dad, Could I Borrow Your Hammer
The Landry News
Look Who's in the Thanksgiving Play
The Mouse Family
The Janitor's Boy
Circus Family Dog
The Christmas Kitten
The School Story
Things Not Seen 
The Jacket 
A Week in the Woods
Slippers at Home
Naptime for Slippers
The Report Card
The Last Holiday Concert
Slippers at School
Slippers Loves to Run
A Million Is a Lot of Dots
Lunch Money
Things Hoped For
Room One: A Mystery or Two
No Talking
Things That Are
Lost and Found
Extra Credit
Troublemaker
About Average
The Map Trap
The Friendship War
The Losers Club
...

Pets to the Rescue Series
Ringo Saves the Day!
Brave Norman
Tara and Tiree, Fearless Friends
Delores and the Big Fire

Jake Drake Series
Jake Drake Know-It-All
Jake Drake, Bully Buster
Jake Drake, Teacher's Pet
Jake Drake, Class Clown

Benjamin Pratt and the Keepers of the School Series
We the Children
Fear Itself
The Whites of Their Eyes
In Harm's Way
We Hold These Truths

Reading program Books
Karen's Island
Three Wishes for Buster
Bill Picket: An American Original, Texas Style
Hurricane Andrew
Ham and Eggs for Jack
Life in the Desert
Desert Treasure
Inventors: Making Things Better, Steck-Vaughn
Milo's Great Invention







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