A 1980 book by Stanley Kiesel that deals with schoolteacher children declaring war on their teachers after dealing with persecution led by Skinny Malinky and the system they represent.
Tropes for the novel:
- Boarding School of Horrors: The horribly built school is not only a dumping ground for "bad" students (the main POV character is actually very intelligent but infuriated his teacher by making up words ("inkwart- that blister that develops when you write too many stupid English assignments") and sticking to them; another is a very smart Cloud Cuckoo Lander; another was raised by hyenas) but also for bad teachers like the self-absorbed art teacher who jousted as The Rococo Knight.
- Dean Bitterman: Every single adult (with three exceptions) hates their students, which is unsurprising given they all reside in a prison school for horrible teachers and smartass kids. They win (!), but not completely.
- Kids Versus Adults: The book takes the premise literally.
- The Man Behind the Curtain: Mr. Foreclosure, is an ant. Not even a giant ant.
- Parental Abandonment: Parents are not mentioned very much, seeing as the characters are in a prison-like school for bad teachers and smartasses. The lone exception is Big Alice Eyesore, who was so wild as an infant (her teeth came in early; they were all canines) that her child psychologist parents left her in a wild animal park where she was raised by hyenas. They came back for her when she was an adolescent, but after learning that child psychology doesn't work on hyenas they abandoned her for good.
- Transformation Ray: The adults utilize a sinister device called the Status Quo Solidifier machine, which turns the defeated kids into well-behaved and well-dressed Perfect Young People.
- Wild Child: Big Alice Eyesore is raised by hyenas after her child psychologist parents forget/abandon her at a wild animal park and decide that the hyenas are better equipped to deal with Alice and her all-canine teeth. Her parents eventually return for her when she's about 11 or 13, but after learning that child psychology doesn't work on hyenas they abandon her for good at the horrible school where the story takes place. By the end of the book, Alice has been brought back from the dead (cryogenically frozen/coma?) and returned to her hyena family. She is the only kid who hasn't been forcibly aged or driven underground. She achieves a symbolic victory by climbing the highest tree in the park and declaring herself leader of her pack.
