Charm School

by Anne Fine

I am NOT going to Charm School.... But Bonny’s mother needs her to take a one-day class and Charm School is all there is. Can Bonny cope with listening to Mrs Opalene’s Handy Hints (like “how to bleach your elbows”!)? And what about the other girls — the awful, self-obsessed little princesses who really want to win the “Glistering Tiara.” After Bonny’s day there, Charm School will never be the same again...

Genres: Childrens, Fiction, Middle Grade, Young Adult, Friendship, Novels, Audiobook

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Though readers often find themselves inadvertently laughing aloud as they read Anne Fine's novels, as she herself admits, "a lot of my work, even for fairly young readers, raises serious social issues. Growing up is a long and confusing business. I try to show that the battle through the chaos is worthwhile and can, at times, be seen as very funny." In 1994, this unique combination of humour and realism inspired the hit movie MRS. DOUBTFIRE, based on Anne's novel MADAME DOUBTFIRE and starring the late comedic genius Robin Williams.

Anne is best known in her home country, England, as a writer principally for children, but over the years she has also written eight novels for adult readers. Seven of these she describes as black - or sour - comedies, and the first, THE KILLJOY, simply as "dead black". These novels have proved great favourites with reading groups, causing readers to squirm with mingled horror and delight as she peels away the layers in all too familiar family relationships, exposing the tangled threads and conflicts beneath. (It's perhaps not surprising that Anne has openly expressed astonishment at the fact that murder in the domestic setting is not even more common.)

Anne has written more than sixty books for children and young people. Amongst numerous other awards, she is twice winner of both the Carnegie Medal, Britain's most prestigious children's book award, and the Whitbread Award. Twice chosen as Children's Author of the Year in the British Book Awards, Anne Fine was also the first novelist to be honoured as Children's Laureate in the United Kingdom. In 2003, Anne became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and was awarded an OBE. Her work has been translated into forty five languages.

Anne Fine lives in the north of England and has two grown up daughters.

Reviews

[hajrah ♡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

the way people hoarded this beautiful, heavy book at the school library was INSANE

[Robin Lacey📚 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book as a kid! I got the book from my local library became obsessed and the my mum got me the audio tapes for my birthday and I used to put it on every night before bed!
there was this book and another about an undercover famous boy joining a school and becoming friends with the quiet girl who wasn’t so quiet by the end!

[mellamy · Rating 4 out of 5]

must’ve read this about fifty times as a kid and y’know what?? holds tf up!! would that i could physically force every kid to read this

[Dinnu Reads Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute children's book! :)

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh my god, I was obsessed with this book as a kid! Completely obsessed and I must have read it about a million times before it eventually fell apart, but then I forgot about it until I saw that I had written about it in an old homework diary from when I started school! How sad is that?!

I loved the idea of going to a charm school but essentially screwing everything up while you’re there. Messing with the lights during the different acts or the sound effects. That would have been something I would have loved to see. Although I would have been far too scared to ever do something like that myself, I would have been enamoured with anyone who was brave enough to do it.

It’s been so long since I even thought of this book! Maybe I should try and find a copy and give it another read. Just for nostalgia sake.

[Barbara Pereira · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is recommended for younger readers, but I am sure there are better options out there. I could not have had a duller experience, it is boring from beginning to end. The main character believes she is superior and the cleverest of all, bragging about how much she wants to help the other girls, even though she is neither thoughtful nor empathetic. I do not think this book delivers a meaningful message at all.

[Kitty · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is for younger readers, but I used to enjoy it and reading it for a throwback was fun. I related to Bonny, and the overall message that it's most important to have fun was good. The different ways the performances went were fun to read too.

[Gaia Milizia]

I love this book, I do. I think it's a wonderful, joyful ride to read. But I also think it's very preachy, and it just assumes you will go along with the main character and praise her as the only intelligent person in a whole school, while also ridiculing other people for their different ideas.

[sedi · Rating 4 out of 5]

! NO SPOIlERS !
This book is great but a bit childish and not what everyone would prefer, in my opinion girls around 7-10 years old should read this as it’s not too complex with a simple plot and moral ending. Hope this helps for future readers!

[Holly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love a throwback read. This was one of my favourites as a child and I can see why - I was (and to a point remain) definitely a Bonny.

[Cindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's too preachy for a children book.

[Pamalama Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read it for school as some of my students were reading it. It won't become a favorite, but I'd recommend to those I think would like it.

[Frugal Fun Mum · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute little book took me a while to get into it and had to re borrow it to finish it and glad that I did.

[Roanreads · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did not enjoy this book and at many times it made me feel uncomfortable.

It spends a large amount chunk of the book talking about how the girls at the charm school bring superficial. The main character is really mean to the girls and constantly making fun of them even when she claims that she is trying to help them. In the end she pranks them on the final performance terrifying one girl and she justified it because she wanted to help them.

While the book beings to light many problems with beauty expectations of girls, I feel like it's not done properly in some places as at one point the main character makes fun of the girls for having eating disorders. In the end this book wraps it all up quickly and brushes over and rushes the ending.

Overall, I did not like enjoy book and how it handled alot of the themes.

[BlueCorralDream · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book! I must have read it like 50 times by now ^-^ I love being girly so I'd love to go to charm school but I get why Bonnie might not want to. After all, not everyone likes pink and cute things. I like that Bonnie tells the other girls that they can have fun and don't always have to be perfect - especially that they can eat the nice things they named themselves after. I think that's an immportant message - I think teenagers are told what we shouldn't eat too often (haha, off I go again. gomen!). Anyway, I would recommend this book to anyone in the preteen/young teen age group. It's silly and fun for older girls too.

[Ebehi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it because its answer to the Curls ad Purls girls was to have fun. I like that Anne Fine didn't delve too much into media and why girls see themselves the way they do, because it would have seemed to simplistic and trite, especially as everything happens in one day. Instead, the girls are encouraged to have fun instead of sitting at the mirror all the day. I liked Bonnie very much because she was so candid and improper without being annoying. This book is really funny, and still makes me laugh.

[Rae Stoltenkamp · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked the core theme of this book. It centres around Bonny who joins a group of girls who are obsessed with how they look and what they wear. None of these things matter to Bonny as she believes life is more than just being decorative. Even though the other girls do their best to make Bonny feel as though she is worthless for not being like them, she takes control of the situation and helps them realise their own worth. This is an excellent book for reinforcing the message that life is for living and should, most of all, be fun.

[Louise Armstrong · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a little bit heavy handed (unusual for Anne Fine!) but intended for younger readers, I suppose.

She's very good at catching people's characters in dialogue.

'Stroke it on gently, dear,' Mrs Opalene was telling Pearl. 'Don't scrape away at Araminta's precious face.'

I think that the two words that make this line effective are 'dear' and 'precious'.

Mrs Opaline, by the way, runs the charm school and is: 'A large, round, glittering lady.'

[Emmy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have heard of Anne Fine as she is quite a traditional author but this book was far from her greatest work. Personally I found the main character annoying and the rest of the characters with no reason for being. The writing was a drag too with lots of narrative words instead of description. I didn't enjoy the storyline at all so overall a bit disappointed really. However I will say that for younger children, age 6, they might enjoy it but I don't recommend it.

[Daisy Leather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picked this up in a charity shop yesterday as this used to be one of my all time favourite books in primary school. A very odd book but it brought back so many memories! So, for nostalgic reasons, I'm giving this 4/5.

[- Sophie..(: · Rating 1 out of 5]

Rubbish...Didn'tLikeItAtAll...

[Danielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this book i can read it over and over again as it makes me laugh every time.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a funny book about looks and friendship. It was a quick and enjoyable read.

[Bahar · Rating 3 out of 5]

not a bad book,although it doesn't make to the list of my TOP-favourite books.

[Noor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Such girly girls are in that book.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this when I was REALLY young. I used to get it out of the library every other time we went just so I could re-read it. I don't know why I love it so much but I can still remember most of it.

[Briar Rose · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's nice to see a YA book challenging messages about beauty which often go unquestioned in fiction for girls. You don't need to hit them over the head with it though.

[Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny and feel good, but with social commentary and good messages for young girls. Definitely keeping this one in my books for my future kids pile.

[Felicity · Rating 3 out of 5]

I quite liked this book. It's good fun and the main character is a tomboy whose mother sends her to charm school to make her more ladylike which causes interesting consequences!

[Susan]

I have very little memory of this (beyond