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The school story is a fiction genre centring on older pre-adolescent and adolescent school life, at its most popular in the first half of the twentieth century. While examples do exist in other countries, it is most commonly set in English
boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. They have existed for many centuries, and now extend acr ...
s and mostly written in girls' and boys' subgenres, reflecting the
single-sex education Single-sex education, also known as single-gender education, same-sex education, same-gender education, and gender-isolated education, is the practice of conducting education with male and female students attending separate classes, perhaps in se ...
typical until the 1950s. It focuses largely on friendship, honour and loyalty between pupils. Plots involving sports events, bullies, secrets, rivalry and bravery are often used to shape the school story. The popularity of the traditional school story declined after the Second World War, but school stories have remained popular in other forms, with a focus on state run coeducational schools, and themes involving more modern concerns such as racial issues, family life, sexuality and drugs (see
Grange Hill ''Grange Hill'' is a British Children's television series, children's television drama series, originally produced by the BBC and portraying life in a typical Comprehensive school (England and Wales), comprehensive school. The show began its ru ...
). More recently it has seen a revival with the success of the ''
Harry Potter ''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven Fantasy literature, fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young Magician (fantasy), wizard, Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, and his friends ...
'' series, which uses many plot motifs commonly found in the traditional school story.


History


Early works

''
The Governess, or The Little Female Academy ''The Governess; or, The Little Female Academy'' (published 1749) by Sarah Fielding is the first full-length novel written for children. As such and in itself it is a significant work of List of 18th-century British children's literature titles ...
'' by
Sarah Fielding Sarah Fielding (8 November 1710 – 9 April 1768) was an English author and sister of the playwright, novelist and magistrate Henry Fielding. She wrote ''The Governess, or The Little Female Academy'' (1749), thought to be the first novel in Engli ...
, published in 1749, is generally seen as the first boarding school story. Fielding's novel was a moralistic tale with tangents offering instruction on behavior, and each of the nine girls in the novel relates her story individually. However, it did establish aspects of the boarding school story which were repeated in later works. The school is self-contained with little connection to local life, the girls are encouraged to live together with a sense of community and collective responsibility. Fielding's approach was imitated and used as a formula by both her contemporaries and other writers into the 19th century.


Emergence of school stories in nineteenth century

School stories were a somewhat late arrival as a popular literature. Children as a market were generally not targeted until well into the nineteenth century. There was concern about the moral effect of novels on young minds, and those that were published tended to lean towards giving moral instruction.


Thomas Hughes and successors

''
Jane Eyre ''Jane Eyre'' ( ; originally published as ''Jane Eyre: An Autobiography'') is a novel by the English writer Charlotte Brontë. It was published under her pen name "Currer Bell" on 19 October 1847 by Smith, Elder & Co. of London. The firs ...
'' (1847) by
Charlotte Brontë Charlotte Nicholls (; 21 April 1816 – 31 March 1855), commonly known as Charlotte Brontë (, commonly ), was an English novelist and poet, the eldest of the three Brontë family, Brontë sisters who survived into adulthood and whose novel ...
, and '' Dombey and Son'' (1848) and ''
David Copperfield ''David Copperfield''Dickens invented over 14 variations of the title for this work; see is a novel by English author Charles Dickens, narrated by the eponymous David Copperfield, detailing his adventures in his journey from infancy to matur ...
'' (1850) by
Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...
had school story elements, which generated considerable public interest and close to 100 school stories had been published between 1749 and 1857, the year that ''
Tom Brown's School Days ''Tom Brown's School Days'' (sometimes written ''Tom Brown's Schooldays'', also published under the titles ''Tom Brown at Rugby'', ''School Days at Rugby'', and ''Tom Brown's School Days at Rugby'') is a novel by Thomas Hughes, published in 1 ...
'' by Thomas Hughes appeared. It is perhaps the most famous of all such tales, and its popularity helped firmly establish the genre, which rapidly expanded in the decades to follow across thousands of novels. Hughes never wrote another school story: the sequel '' Tom Brown at Oxford'' focused on university life. However, more school stories followed such as F.W. Farrar's ''
Eric, or, Little by Little ''Eric, or, Little by Little'' is a book by Frederic W. Farrar, first edition 1858. It was published by Adam & Charles Black, Edinburgh and London. The book deals with the descent into moral turpitude of a boy at a boarding school or English Publ ...
: A Tale of Roslyn School'' (1858), Revd H.C. Adams' ''Schoolboy Honour; A Tale of Halminster College'' (1861) and A.R. Hope's ''Stories of Whitminster'' (1873). In 1870 the Education Act paved the way for universal education for children, and so gave the market for school stories a considerable boost, which led to some publishers advertising novels specifically as school stories. Boys' magazines also began to be published which featured school stories, the best known being '' Boy's Own Paper'', with its first issues appearing 1879.


Talbot Baines Reed

Talbot Baines Reed Talbot Baines Reed (3 April 1852 – 28 November 1893) was an English writer of boys' fiction who established a genre of school story, school stories that endured into the mid-20th century. Among his best-known work is ''The Fifth Form at S ...
wrote a number of school stories in the 1880s, and contributed considerably to shaping the genre, taking inspiration from
Thomas Hughes Thomas Hughes (20 October 1822 – 22 March 1896) was an English lawyer, judge, politician and author. He is most famous for his novel ''Tom Brown's School Days'' (1857), a semi-autobiographical work set at Rugby School, which Hughes had atte ...
. His most famous work was '' The Fifth Form at St. Dominic's'' (1887) (serialised 1881–82). It was reprinted on a number of occasions, selling 750,000 copies in a 1907 edition. While seated in Baines Reed's Christian values, ''The Fifth Form at St Dominic's'' showed a leaning away from the school story as instructional moral literature for children, with a greater focus on the pupils and a defined plot.


Gender difference in school stories

As schools were segregated by gender in the nineteenth century, school stories naturally formed two separate but related genres of girls' school stories and boys' school stories. There had been an increase in female schooling from the 1850s, augmented by the 1870 Education Act.
L. T. Meade Elizabeth Thomasina Meade Smith (1844–1914), writing under the pseudonym L. T. Meade, was a prolific writer of girls' stories. She was born in Bandon, County Cork, Bandon, County Cork, Ireland, daughter of Rev. R. T. Meade, of Nohoval, County ...
, who also wrote historical novels and was a magazine editor, become the most popular writer of girls' school stories in the final decade of the nineteenth century. Her stories focused on upper class pupils at boarding schools who learned to earn trust by making mistakes. They had little focus on sports and were primarily interested in friendships and loyalty. They remained largely rooted in Victorian values and preparing girls to be proper wives and mothers.


Twentieth century

Most literature for girls at the turn of the twentieth century focused on the value of self-sacrifice, moral virtues, dignity and aspiring to finding a proper position in societal order. This was to a large extent changed by the publication of Angela Brazil's girls school stories in the early twentieth century, which featured energetic characters who challenged authority, played pranks, and lived in their own youthful world in which adult concerns were sidelined. Twentieth-century boys' school stories were often comical in nature – examples being the Billy Bunter stories and the
Jennings Jennings is a surname of early medieval English origin (also the Anglicised version of the Irish surnames Mac Sheóinín or MacJonin). Notable people with the surname include: *Jennings (Swedish noble family) A–G *Adam Jennings (born 1982), A ...
series. Coeducation remained rare in boarding school stories. Enid Blyton's
Naughtiest Girl ''The Naughtiest Girl'' is a series of children's novels written by Enid Blyton in the 1940s–1950s. Unusually, they are set at a progressive boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being g ...
series was unusually set in a progressive coeducational school. J. K. Rowlings' Harry Potter series represents a more recent example of a mixed-sex boarding school.


Decline of the school story genre

The peak period for school stories was between the 1880s and the end of the Second World War. Comics featuring school stories also became popular in the 1930s. After World War II boarding school stories waned in popularity. Coeducational schools for all British schoolchildren were being funded by the public purse; critics, librarians and educational specialists became interested in creating a more modern curriculum and tended to see stories of this type as outdated and irrelevant. School stories have remained popular, however, with a focus shifting towards state-funded day schools with both girls and boys, and dealing with more contemporary issues such as sexuality, racism, drugs and family difficulties. The ''Bannerdale'' series of five novels (1949–56) by Geoffrey Trease, starting with '' No Boats on Bannermere'', involved two male and two female pupils of day schools in the
Lake District The Lake District, also known as ''the Lakes'' or ''Lakeland'', is a mountainous region and National parks of the United Kingdom, national park in Cumbria, North West England. It is famous for its landscape, including its lakes, coast, and mou ...
, and a widowed mother. Trease was inspired to set the series in a day school following a letter from a young reader complaining that, despite being the setting for many school stories, boarding schools were in fact no more exciting environments than day schools. This is something remarked upon by the narrator. The ''
Harry Potter ''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven Fantasy literature, fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young Magician (fantasy), wizard, Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, and his friends ...
'' series of novels has in some respects revived the genre, despite having a strong leaning towards
fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...
conventions. Elements of the school story prominent in ''Harry Potter'' including the action being described almost exclusively from the point of view of pupils.


Elsewhere

While school stories originated in Britain with ''Tom Brown's Schooldays'', school stories were also published in other countries. 'Schulromane' were popular in Germany in both the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and school stories were also published in
Soviet Russia The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...
. Some American classic children's novels also relate to the genre, including ''What Katy Did at School'' (1873) by
Susan Coolidge Sarah Chauncey Woolsey (January 29, 1835 – April 9, 1905) was an American children's author who wrote under the pen name Susan Coolidge. Background Woolsey was born on January 29, 1835, into the wealthy, influential New England Dwight fam ...
, '' Little Men'' (1871) by
Louisa May Alcott Louisa May Alcott (; November 29, 1832March 6, 1888) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet best known for writing the novel ''Little Women'' (1868) and its sequels ''Good Wives'' (1869), ''Little Men'' (1871), and ''Jo's Boys'' ...
, '' Betsy-Tacy'' (1940) by Maud Hart Lovelace, and ''
Little Town on the Prairie ''Little Town on the Prairie'' is an autobiographical children's novel written by Laura Ingalls Wilder and published in 1941, the seventh of nine books in her ''Little House'' series. It is set in De Smet, South Dakota. It opens in the spring ...
'' (1941) by
Laura Ingalls Wilder Laura Elizabeth Ingalls Wilder (February 7, 1867 – February 10, 1957) was an American writer, teacher, and journalist. She is best known as the author of the children's book series ''Little House on the Prairie'', published between 1932 and 1 ...
. The 1980s and 1990s
Sweet Valley High ''Sweet Valley High'' is a series of young adult novels attributed to American author Francine Pascal, who presided over a team of ghostwriters to produce the series. The books chronicle the lives of identical twins Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefi ...
series by Francine Pascal and others are set in California. However, the core school story theme of the school as a sort of character in itself, actively formed by the pupils and their enjoyment of being there, is primarily a British and American phenomenon. In France, ''Mémoires d'Un Collégien'' (1882) by
André Laurie Jean François Paschal Grousset (7 April 1844, in Corte, Haute-Corse, Corte – 9 April 1909, in Paris) was a French politician, journalist, translatorHe was the first to translate Treasure Island into French in 1885 (''L'île au trésor'', éd. ...
(Jean-François Paschal Grousset), set in a boarding-school context similar to Talbot Baines Reed's St. Dominic's in England and Arthur Stanwood Pier's St. Timothy's in America, would have a considerable influence on French stories in the genre. German school stories tended to be written for adults, in the tradition of the earlier ''Bildungsroman'', and explored the disruption the school environment made to a character's sense of individuality. Soviet stories tended to focus on how individualistic behaviour could be corrected and brought into line with collective goals by the school environment. Other notable examples of school stories include Japanese
manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...
series such as '' Sket Dance'' and '' School Rumble''; and US dramas such as ''
Beverly Hills 90210 ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' (often referred to as ''90210'') is an American teen drama television series created by Darren Star and produced by Aaron Spelling via his production company Spelling Television. The series ran for 10 seasons on Fo ...
'', ''
Freaks and Geeks ''Freaks and Geeks'' is an American teen comedy-drama television series created by Paul Feig and executive-produced by Judd Apatow that aired on NBC during the 1999–2000 television season. The show is set in a suburban high school near ...
'', ''
Glee Glee may refer to: * Glee (music), a type of English choral music * ''Glee'' (TV series), an American musical comedy-drama TV series, and related media created by Ryan Murphy * ''Glee'' (Bran Van 3000 album) * ''Glee'' (Logan Lynn album) * Gle ...
'' and ''
Pretty Little Liars ''Pretty Little Liars'' is an American Mystery fiction, mystery teen drama television series created by I. Marlene King, which aired on Freeform (TV channel), Freeform from June 8, 2010 to June 27, 2017, based on the novel series Pretty Little L ...
''.


Themes

The vast majority of school stories involve the culture of boarding schools in general. Common themes include honour, decency, sportsmanship and loyalty. Competitive team sports often feature and an annual sports event between rival school houses is frequently a part of the plot. Friendships between pupils are a common focus and also relationships with particular teachers, and the difficulty of new pupils fitting into the school culture is a central theme. Bullies often feature in school stories, particularly boys' school stories. Identical twins appear with some frequency and are often the subject of comedy. School principals are usually even handed and wise and provide guidance to characters and will often bend the rules to get them out of trouble. Earlier in the development of the genre, school stories avoided dealing with
adolescence Adolescence () is a transitional stage of human Developmental biology, physical and psychological Human development (biology), development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age o ...
or
puberty Puberty is the process of physical changes through which a child's body matures into an adult body capable of sexual reproduction. It is initiated by hormonal signals from the brain to the gonads: the ovaries in a female, the testicles i ...
directly.''George Brown's Schooldays'' (1946) by Bruce Marshall is a novel dealing with boarding school education; it is much more sensitive to the misery and sexuality of all-male boarding, disqualifying itself from the genre. ''
Eric, or, Little by Little ''Eric, or, Little by Little'' is a book by Frederic W. Farrar, first edition 1858. It was published by Adam & Charles Black, Edinburgh and London. The book deals with the descent into moral turpitude of a boy at a boarding school or English Publ ...
'' by Dean Farrar was a classic moral tract set in a boarding school. Its Victorian tone was never adopted as generic convention.


Writers

Commercially successful authors of school novels include writers for boys, such as
P. G. Wodehouse Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse ( ; 15 October 1881 – 14 February 1975) was an English writer and one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century. His creations include the feather-brained Bertie Wooster and his sagacious valet, Je ...
,
Anthony Buckeridge Anthony Malcolm Buckeridge (20 June 1912 – 28 June 2004) was an English author, best known for his ''Jennings'' and '' Rex Milligan'' series of children's books. He also wrote the 1953 children's book ''A Funny Thing Happened'' which was ser ...
, and prolific writer Charles Hamilton, better known as Frank Richards, who wrote the Greyfriars School series, St. Jim's and Rookwood, and others for the
Amalgamated Press The Amalgamated Press (AP) was a British newspaper and magazine publishing company founded by journalist and entrepreneur Alfred Harmsworth (1865–1922) in 1901, gathering his many publishing ventures together under one banner. At one point the ...
between 1906 and 1940, his most famous character being Billy Bunter. Writers for girls include Angela Brazil,
Enid Blyton Enid Mary Blyton (11 August 1897 – 28 November 1968) was an English children's writer, whose books have been worldwide bestsellers since the 1930s, selling more than 600 million copies. Her books are still enormously popular and have been tra ...
,
Elinor Brent-Dyer Elinor M. Brent-Dyer (6 April 1894 – 20 September 1969) was an English writer of children's literature who wrote more than one hundred books during her lifetime, the most famous being the ''Chalet School'' series. Early life and education Br ...
, Dorita Fairlie Bruce, Mary Gervaise and Elsie Oxenham.


See also

*
Slice of life Slice of life is a depiction of mundane experiences in art and entertainment. In theater, slice of life refers to Naturalism (theatre), naturalism, while in literary parlance it is a narrative technique in which a seemingly arbitrary sequence ...
* Boarding schools in popular culture * Campus novel


Writers

* Harold Avery * May Baldwin * Margaret Biggs *
Enid Blyton Enid Mary Blyton (11 August 1897 – 28 November 1968) was an English children's writer, whose books have been worldwide bestsellers since the 1930s, selling more than 600 million copies. Her books are still enormously popular and have been tra ...
, notably the
St. Clare's series ''St. Clare's'' is a series of nine books written by English children's authors Enid Blyton and Pamela Cox about a boarding school of that name. The series follows the heroines Patricia "Pat" and Isabel O'Sullivan from their first year at St. ...
* Angela Brazil, formative author for girls' school stories *
Elinor Brent-Dyer Elinor M. Brent-Dyer (6 April 1894 – 20 September 1969) was an English writer of children's literature who wrote more than one hundred books during her lifetime, the most famous being the ''Chalet School'' series. Early life and education Br ...
* Rae Bridgman, Gruffud's Academy (Canadian school set in the secret, magical city of MiddleGate) * Edwy Searles Brooks, St Frank's (featuring
Nelson Lee Nelson Lee (born October 16, 1975; Chinese name: 李志傑) is a Taiwanese-Canadian actor. He is best known for portraying Senator Hamato Xiono in ''Ahsoka'', and Dragon King in '' Stargirl''. Life and career Lee was born in Taipei, Taiwan on O ...
the detective turned schoolmaster) * Dorita Fairlie Bruce *
Anthony Buckeridge Anthony Malcolm Buckeridge (20 June 1912 – 28 June 2004) was an English author, best known for his ''Jennings'' and '' Rex Milligan'' series of children's books. He also wrote the 1953 children's book ''A Funny Thing Happened'' which was ser ...
(''
Jennings Jennings is a surname of early medieval English origin (also the Anglicised version of the Irish surnames Mac Sheóinín or MacJonin). Notable people with the surname include: *Jennings (Swedish noble family) A–G *Adam Jennings (born 1982), A ...
'' in a boarding school, Rex Milligan in a
grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...
) * Brunette Coleman * Josephine Elder * Frederic William Farrar *
Antonia Forest Antonia Forest (26 May 1915 – 28 November 2003) was the pseudonym of Patricia Giulia Caulfield Kate Rubinstein, an English people, English writer. She wrote 13 books for children, published between 1948 and 1982. Her 10 best-known works conce ...
, Kingscote School for Girls * Mary Gervaise * Frank Richards. Greyfriars School * James Hilton *
Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English journalist, novelist, poet, and short-story writer. He was born in British Raj, British India, which inspired much ...
* Clare Mallory *
Phyllis Matthewman Phyllis Matthewman (née Barton) (19 January 1896 – 1979), British writer of children's books, mostly boarding school stories, and adult fiction. Personal life Matthewman was born in Leeds, the elder daughter of Thomas Barton, an insurance mana ...
*
L. T. Meade Elizabeth Thomasina Meade Smith (1844–1914), writing under the pseudonym L. T. Meade, was a prolific writer of girls' stories. She was born in Bandon, County Cork, Bandon, County Cork, Ireland, daughter of Rev. R. T. Meade, of Nohoval, County ...
, most popular girls' school stories author at the end of the 19th century * Elsie J. Oxenham; although her main
Abbey Series The Abbey Series of British novels by Elsie J. Oxenham comprises 38 titles which were published between 1914 and 1959. The first title, ''Girls of the Hamlet Club'' set the scene for the school aspects of the series, but it is the second title ...
is set as much out of school as in it, many of her other titles are set in schools *
Talbot Baines Reed Talbot Baines Reed (3 April 1852 – 28 November 1893) was an English writer of boys' fiction who established a genre of school story, school stories that endured into the mid-20th century. Among his best-known work is ''The Fifth Form at S ...
* Carmen Reid * Edward Stratemeyer * Geoffrey Trease * Dorothy Vicary *
Geoffrey Willans Herbert Geoffrey Willans, RNVR, (4 February 1911 – 6 August 1958), an English writer and journalist, is best known as the creator of Nigel Molesworth, the "goriller of 3B" and "curse of St. Custard's", as in the four books with illustration ...
*
P. G. Wodehouse Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse ( ; 15 October 1881 – 14 February 1975) was an English writer and one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century. His creations include the feather-brained Bertie Wooster and his sagacious valet, Je ...


Characters and works

* Billy Bunter * Naughtiest Girl series *
St. Clare's series ''St. Clare's'' is a series of nine books written by English children's authors Enid Blyton and Pamela Cox about a boarding school of that name. The series follows the heroines Patricia "Pat" and Isabel O'Sullivan from their first year at St. ...
*
Malory Towers ''Malory Towers'' is a series of six novels by English author Enid Blyton. The series is based on a girls' boarding school that Blyton's daughter attended, Benenden School, which relocated during World War II to the Hotel Bristol in Newquay, ...
* Rover Boys *
Chalet School The Chalet School is a series of 58 school story novels by Elinor Brent-Dyer, Elinor M. Brent-Dyer, initially published between 1925 and 1970. The fictional school was initially located in the Tyrol (state), Austrian Tyrol, before it was moved t ...
*
Nigel Molesworth Nigel Molesworth is a fictional character, the supposed author of a series of books about life in an English prep school named St Custard's. The books were written by Geoffrey Willans, with cartoon illustrations by Ronald Searle. The Moleswo ...
* A.J. Wentworth, B.A. (Comic stories about a hapless prep school master by H. F. Ellis) *'' Tell England'' *'' Goodbye, Mr Chips'' *''
Botchan is a novel written by Japanese author Natsume Sōseki in 1906. It is one of the most popular Japanese novels, read by many during their school years. The central theme of the story is morality, but there are generous amounts of humor and sarc ...
'' by
Natsume Sōseki , born , was a Japanese novelist. He is best known for his novels ''Kokoro'', ''Botchan'', ''I Am a Cat'', ''Kusamakura (novel), Kusamakura'' and his unfinished work ''Light and Darkness (novel), Light and Darkness''. He was also a scholar of Br ...
; this is from the slant of a neophyte teacher * St. Trinian's School * Such, Such Were the Joys * Bruno and Boots *
RWBY ''RWBY'' (pronounced "Ruby") is an American Anime-influenced animation, animated web series created by Monty Oum for Rooster Teeth. It is set in the fictional world of Remnant, where young people train to become warriors ("Huntsmen" and "Huntres ...
*'' The Pothunters'' *'' The Gold Bat'' *''
The Gem ''The Gem'' (1907–1939) was a story paper published in Great Britain by Amalgamated Press in the early 20th century, predominantly featuring the activities of boys at the fictional school St. Jim's. These stories were all written using the pe ...
'' *''
The Magnet ''The Magnet'' was a British weekly boys' story paper published by Amalgamated Press. It ran from 1908 to 1940, publishing a total of 1,683 issues. Each issue contained a long school story about the boys of Greyfriars School, a fictional publ ...
''


Further reading

* LEOTESCU, Georgiana-Silvia. (Jan-Feb 2022).
The School Story as a Literary Genre
'. International Journal of Arts, Humanities and Social Studies, 4(1), 228-235.


References


External links



* ttps://www.theguardian.com/Archive/Article/0,4273,4406534,00.html "Larks in the Dorm"
Philip Larkin Philip Arthur Larkin (9 August 1922 – 2 December 1985) was an English poet, novelist, and librarian. His first book of poetry, '' The North Ship'', was published in 1945, followed by two novels, '' Jill'' (1946) and '' A Girl in Winter'' (194 ...
, ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'', Friday 3 May 2002
"Tom's Curious Heirs"
Lincoln Allison, ''
The Critic ''The Critic'' is an American Adult animation, adult animated sitcom revolving around the life of New York film critic Jay Sherman, voiced by Jon Lovitz. It was created by writing partners Al Jean and Mike Reiss, who had previously worked as w ...
'', February 2022 {{DEFAULTSORT:School Story Children's literature Literary genres