Rating: 
Summary: Creepy-funny
Review: Um, I liked SSFWS, all right, but I found the book to be very odd. Not purple-people-eater odd, but a-little-too-true odd. The book isn't just random silliness (although it does seem like it at times), but also very carefully disguised social commentary. I would liken it to Shel Silverstein or Dr. Seuss, in that, what at first seems like kooky insanity begins to morph into something much more, not sinister, but just a little too close to home. What really struck me about this book was that, despite the strangeness of his tales, Sancar obviously has an insiders eye when it comes to children, or a really good memory. The tales of the school tells about not only the students, but the teachers as well, with remarkable insight into the bizarre, rarely accurately observed world of elementary school in American suburbia. Oh sure, there are millions of stories about it, but few dare tread where this author goes with his story, and the results are, well, creepy-funny in a good way. It's like the anti-children's book, unrepentantly ammoral and without a tidy "happy ending" for each story. Oh yes, and, by the way, there's a story of the book for each story of the school. Few seem to notice that. The strangest thing about the book is not how the school is built, but how close the author consistantly gets to the things that make grade-schoolers tick. Few adults could understand how important it is for kids to get outside to recess fast enough to get the "good playgroud balls", or remember the strange kind of guilt that comes from stealing another kid's lunch. If you haven't read it, I would reccommend trying it at least once, if only to see how much you find yourself vividly remembering random episodes of your childhood in frightening detail.
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