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The Demon Headmaster

Book Synopsis

When Dinah is fostered by the Hunters she thinks her biggest problem will be fitting in with her foster-brothers, Lloyd and Harvey. However, once she starts at her new school it’s clear that there’s more to worry about. All the children, apart from a handful including Lloyd and Harvey, are too well-behaved – robotic almost – and oddly keen to please the creepy headmaster. The three children set out to discover the nature of his influence over everyone . . . but then Dinah finds herself saying and doing things she has no power over. Soon they uncover the headmaster’s wicked plan. Controlling the school is just a practice run. He has set his sights on dominating the entire nation! The children must foil him before he succeeds . . . but with Dinah under his spell they’ve got a challenge on their hands. Great fun and just a little bit frightening, Gillian Cross’s beloved classic still holds readers under its hypnotic spell, even after thirty years of being in print. An accessible page-turner, The Demon Headmaster is impossible to resist.

Our Review Panel says...

When Dinah starts at a new school, she finds that all the children are too well-behaved, apart from a handful including Lloyd and Harvey. Most of the pupils follow the headmaster’s rules to the letter and they seem more like robots than individuals with their own personalities. Soon Dinah and her friends discover the headmaster’s wicked plan to take over the whole country. The Demon Headmaster has proven popular in the classroom for over three decades and provides a good starting point for discussing how a school or society would look without the liberty to be individuals.

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