Author: Lois Duncan
First published in 1978 by Little Brown
Mr. Griffin is the strictest teacher at Del Norte High, with a penchant for endless projects and humiliating his students. Even straight-A student Susan can't believe how mean he is to the charismatic Mark Kinney. So when her crush asks Susan to help a group of students teach a lesson of their own, she goes along. After all, it's a harmless prank, right?
But things don't go according to plan. When one "accident" leads to another, people begin to die. Susan and her friends must face the awful truth: one of them is a killer.
I was a fan of Lois Duncan in High school. Summer of Fear and I Know what you Did Last Summer were among my favorite books back then. For some reason, I never read Killing MR. Griffin. The premise of the book is that a group of kids who don't like their English teacher, kidnap him in order to scare him into changing their grades. He dies of a heart attack and they spend the rest of the book trying to cover it up.
I'm probably in the minority, but I didn't care
for this one. I'm not sure if I had read this when I was a teenager if I would have liked it more than I did reading it as an adult. This was one YA read that didn't sit well with me. The teens were spoiled, the adults were clueless and in the end, the consequences just didn't fit the crime. A lot of it was a bit far fetched.
Author: Lois Duncan
First published in 1987 by Bantam Dell
Re-issued and updated in 2012 by Open Road Media
Tracy, a high school junior, becomes embroiled in the problems of a strange boy, who asks her assistance in "snatching" his half-sister from her father who has allegedly kidnapped her.
I was a fan of Lois Duncan when I was in high school. My favorite book by her is Summer of Fear. I remember being so creeped out by that book. When I saw that The Twisted Window was being re-issued with updates, I was curious to see if Ms. Duncan's books still held appeal for me.
The Twisted Window was a pretty good book. Brad is desperate to get his little sister back and he convinces Tracy to help him get her back. At first Tracy is reluctant to help, but she is having issues of her own, and is easily drawn into his scheme. Tracy has moved to the town to live with her aunt and uncle. Her mother has died and she is feeling abandoned by her father. She makes an easy target for Brad. Tracy starts to become suspicious when things Brad says and does just aren't adding up.
The book has a couple of surprises that were a little shocking. One of them I was able to figure out pretty quickly as there are a lot of clues leading up to it. Still, the ending was pretty surprising and heartbreaking at the same time. I only wish it had some sort of epilogue to see the aftermath.
As much as I liked the book, I was disappointed to see that an attempt to "update" the book had been made. Parts of the book so obviously point to the fact that it was written in the 80s. I don't mind that and would have preferred it had been kept that way. The problem was that in references to cell phones and CDs were thrown in throughout the book and seemed out of place. Especially since they still use pay phones throughout the book. I can't remember the last time I saw a payphone. At any rate, I am not a fan of "updating" a book for the times. If you aren't as well, I would suggest trying to get your hands on an original copy. I think it would hold up just fine and be just as enjoyable.
Author: Lois Duncan
