Posted by Jane McMorland Hunter on September 17th, 2021

School, but probably not as you remember it.

Hogwarts is probably the most famous boarding school in the world but there are many others – some for gangsters, others for spies, one will transport you back in time whilst another is set onboard a sailing ship.

Enid Blyton, First Term at Malory Towers I was lucky enough to go to the boarding school on which the Malory Towers series is based. The midnight feasts, haunted dormitories and illicit swims were all real. Whether you are at a day or boarding school these stories are great fun and have stood the test of time remarkably well – friendships, rivalries misunderstandings and misbehaving are just as much part of school now as they were when this series was written, over seventy years ago. There have been later additions to the series but the originals by Enid Blyton are:

First Term at Malory Towers Second Form at Malory Towers Third Year at Malory Towers Upper Fourth at Malory Towers In the Fifth at Malory Towers Last Term at Malory Towers

Read them in the correct order to follow Darrell and her friends through school.

Penelope Farmer, Charlotte Sometimes Going to a new school is always confusing and Charlotte Makepiece’s first night at boarding school is strange enough, but everything becomes much more bewildering when she awakes and finds she has become Clare Moby, at the same school, but nearly half a century earlier. The two girls change places on alternate days so they devise a system of letters to help them cope with each other’s lessons but Clare’s time is during the First World War and Charlotte is worried she may become trapped. I loved this book as a child and loved it just as much as an adult.

Alexander McCall Smith, School Ship Tobermory Twins Fee and Ben have an unusual life as they live on a submarine but they go to an even more unusual school – on a ship. This is the first in a brilliant series of murder and mayhem on the high seas – think Swallows and Amazons crossed with Murder Most Unladylike. Here the twins and their friends come up against a film crew who are not as innocent as they seem, in later books they have adventures in the Australian outback, uncover a mystery in the Caribbean Islands and search for buried treasure off the west coast of Scotland. As there is a recap at the start of each term it doesn’t matter what order you read them – but I would recommend you read them all.

The Sands of Shark Island The Race to Kangaroo Cliff The Secret of the Dark Waterfall

Kate Wiseman, Gangster School Constance Bottomley’s Academy for the Rural Arts is not as innocent as it seems, in reality it is Blaggard’s, a school for aspiring gangsters. The uniform consists of a stripey burglar’s jumper and multi-pocketed trousers with a mask for formal occasions. Milly Dillane and Charlie Partridge soon get used to lessons in subjects such as Thievery, Hacking, Defiance and Discourtesy but Charlie has a secret and Milly makes an unwise enemy on her first day. Exciting, hilarious and full of useful tips for trouble.

Natasha Farrant, The Children of Castle Rock Alice lives in a world of stories and is not at all keen on the idea of going to boarding school, especially one in the remote Scottish Highlands. Jesse, the youngest of four brothers yearns for adventure, while Fergus is a genius with a talent for trouble. The three are thrown together on the school’s Great Orienteering Challenge and end up in the midst of a dangerous adventure. Exciting and funny in equal measure, I hope this is the first of many Stormy Loch stories.

Robert Muchamore, The Recruit This is the first in Robert Muchamore’s Cherub series, with sixteen more stories and seven in Henderson’s Boys, the prequels which are set during the Second World War. They are all brilliant, working on the premise that adult spies stand out like sore thumbs whereas children can snoop, spy and outwit criminals with no one noticing. James is intelligent, physically fit, and has an appetite for trouble; a perfect Cherub recruit – follow him through his training and on to spy missions.