Check out the laugh-inducing, phobia-reducing final book in the School of Fear trilogy! Is school out forever at the School of Fear? A nosy reporter is planning a scandalous expose on eccentric Mrs. Wellington and her unorthodox teaching methods, and the news is sure to put an end to the school. Madeleine, Theo, Lulu, Garrison, and the new student Hyacinth must convince Sylvie that their teacher and the school are perfectly normal. But how can they accomplish this when Mrs. Wellington is just so...odd? With the fate of their beloved school in their hands, the children now share a new fear: failure. In the third and apparently final installment in the School of Fear series, a forthcoming tabloid exposé threatens to shut down Mrs. Wellington’s fear-busting academy. Naturally, the five students from the previous books unite to combat the reporter stalking the school and to settle the feud between Mrs. Wellington and her stepson. The plot has the same breezily haphazard quality of the previous outings, and the dialogue is packed with choice insults delivered by both students and staff, but the book also introduces a worthy new character: Basmati, the headmaster of the Contrary Conservatory, whose contradictory approach helps to restore harmony. Gifford’s illustrations add the usual nice and creepy touch. Grades 4-7. --Abby Nolan Gitty Daneshvari was an average child, the kind who never made much of a mark academically, athletically, or socially, so it hardly came as a surprise when she was rejected from her school's Talented and Gifted Program. On the contrary, Gitty had long ago accepted that she simply wasn't "special," unless of course you counted her long list of phobias (please read School of Fear for further explanation). Luckily, as Gitty aged, she realized that while she lacked natural talent, there was nothing stopping her from figuring out what she enjoyed and then working hard to become better at it. Gitty is the author of the series The League of Unexceptional Children, School of Fear, and Monster High: Ghoulfriends. She invites you to visit her online at GittyDaneshvari.com and @GittyDaneshvari. School of Fear 3: The Final Exam By Gitty Daneshvari Little, Brown Books for Young Readers Copyright © 2011 Gitty Daneshvari All right reserved. ISBN: 9780316182874 CHAPTER 1 EVERYONE’S AFRAID OF SOMETHING: Autodysomophobia is the fear of emitting a vile odor. The end is not the end. And that is certainly not to imply that the end is actually the beginning or the middle, for that would be most inaccurate. The end is simply far more than a completion point or finish line. The end is a call for courage, rallying those ready for the next journey. Thirteen-year-old Madeleine Masterson was sound asleep, with her raven locks tucked neatly beneath a shower cap and her serene blue eyes sealed tightly to the world. Only a year earlier, Madeleine had arrived at School of Fear adorned in a netted veil and a belt of repellents, desperate to keep all spiders and creepy crawlers at bay. While the politically savvy London native had shed both the belt and veil after her first summer, there had been quite a relapse as of late. A few days earlier Madeleine had come to blows with a brown and burgundy Balinese spider, culminating in arachnid roadkill on her forehead. The traumatic incident immediately sparked a renewed sense of panic, hence the implementation of the shower cap. On this particular morning, it was not her usual hallucination of eight sticky feet dancing across her arm that awoke her, but something far more harmless. With her eyes still tightly sealed, Madeleine noticed a pungent scent. It wasn’t that of smoke or any recognizable danger. Thick and musty, the overwhelmingly saccharine odor lingered in both her mouth and nostrils. While Madeleine had always enjoyed the odd sweet, there was something downright nauseating about this smell. Now, if this had been any other day, she would have instantly opened her eyes and satiated her curiosity. But on this particular morning Madeleine could think of nothing quite as frightening as facing the hours ahead. “Madeleine,” a familiar voice whispered, warm billows of breath cascading against the young girl’s cheeks. Having no recourse, Madeleine relented and slowly unlocked her eyes. A mere inch from her face was School of Fear’s eccentric headmistress, Mrs. Wellington. And while some people may look good up close, she certainly was not one of them. Thick layers of makeup sat unflatteringly atop the old woman’s deep and jagged wrinkles, showing her skin to be a most merciless record of time past. “Good morning, Mrs. Wellington,” Madeleine whispered awkwardly before once again finding her olfactory gland overwhelmed by the stench. “Not to be cheeky, but what on earth is