Killing Mr. Griffin

Killing Mr. Griffin
Duncan, Lois

New York: Bantam Double Day Dell Publishing Group, Inc., 1978

Annotation:
Five students learn the true meaning of a snowball effect the hard way when they kidnap their teacher in hopes of getting him to change his mind about his grading scheme. In the downward spiral of events prior to the "accidental" death of their teacher, the lives of each teenager is explored as secrets trickle out about each character with the exception of Mark, who eventually is found to have the biggest secret of all. Although the book is written a few decades ago, the teenagers deal with a lot of the same issues that teenagers today face. This includes grades that could help them get into colleges, relationships, friendships, peer pressure, and parents. Throughout the book there were many sections during which I forgot I was reading a book that was set in the late seventies.

Reason for rejection:
While the snowball effect of the plot showed how dire a situation could get if people don't tell the truth, some of the lines and characters were scripted and two dimensional. I felt that they could give so much more to the story if they didn't present such a cliche. Mr. Griffin was so evil a character that it was hard to believe that he was actually a teacher. Even to the last moment the protagonists could not gain an ounce of sympathy from him; in fact, the only thing that makes Mr. Griffin seem human is his need for his pills due his condition, angina pectoris. The sociopath in the story is really the most interesting character, which was precisely the reason why I wished that the story would have been written in his perspective instead.

Genre: Mystery/Thriller