Killing Mr. Griffin
by Lois Duncan
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Book Reviews of Killing Mr. Griffin
Book Review: They didn't mean it ...
Summary: 5 Stars
I first read this book when I was in junior high school. It really was great youth literature for a future lover of horror and suspense. I just didn't know it then, despite the title.
We've all had a really hard nosed teacher like Mr. Griffin. Unyielding, a stickler for the rules and regulations, nothing you could do or say could please them. They were out to get you, in the arrogance and vainity of youth you can only have hate for this man who's bringing your grades down, preventing you from participating in extra activities (ex. sports), and just doesn't respond no matter how much you try to appeal to their human side. Looking back, as these kids will no doubt do, he was just doing his job, disciplining you for the rat race that is the adult world. And what a great cast of characters, the prime examples of vain, self centered kids who are really out to get Mr.Griffin.
Susan is the center character, the lonely, awkward outsider who feels left out at home and school, who is in his class trying her best to do her best. It's such a struggle to have to face a regular school day. All the while she is looking at the beautiful people, the popular kids who she really wants to be accepted by. They might like her if they just gave her a chance. I remember that feeling so well. Mr.Griffin's class is hard for her, but she seems to be ernest enough that she is the one and only benefiting from his stringent ways. In her class is Jeff, the basketball star, who resents Mr.Griffin because he won't give him a break on game nights and if he doesn't maintain his grade in his class he might be suspended from playing. His girlfriend Betsy also has her problems with Mr.Griffin, because she can't use her natural "look how cute I am" feminine charms on him when she can on everyone else. David, the student body president and all around "nice guy" doesn't really not like Mr.Griffin, but he is resentful of the one poor grade he is getting that will keep him out of scholarship running for the colleges of his choice; and thinking about the father who abandoned him and his mother, leaving them with his frail grandmother who they are the primary caregivers to makes David feel another kind of hate for this tough teacher. And Mark. Silent, cunning, snake charming Mark sits in Mr.Griffin's class, stewing in his own juices. Mark, deciding to take out his revenge for a cheating instance he was caught in the year before, rounds up David, Betsy and Jeff to kidnap Mr.Griffin. They're just going to scare him, he says. And they'll use Susan, the lonely girl, as the decoy. Sure enough, Susan, wanting to be part of them, agrees to this, and Mr.Griffin is taken away to a remote wooded location.
Of course, it all goes terribly wrong. Mr.Griffin has a heart condition that he wasn't able to take his medication for, and when Susan later returns to the kidnap hideout to free him, he's dead. What are they going to do now? Tell one lie to cover up another. Ditch cars, evidence, bury the body. They're time and luck is going to run out, especially for Susan, because she was just the plant. The one honest person who will turn on them.
A great suspense story. You can feel the building tension between the kids, feel the police coming in closer and closer and knowing that they can't keep lying. And the sadness. They didn't know Mr.Griffin could have a wife at home, pregnant with their first child and awaiting the happy arrival. He couldn't have been human, he couldn't have had a family or enjoyed normal things that other people do. He only got joy out of making them suffer. Mr.Griffin was trying to teach our youth, going down to the high school from the university level so he can better educate. Shame on them.
Book Review: An Awesome Film
Summary: 5 Stars
In the exceptional novel, Killing Mr. Griffin, by Lois Duncan, the author is probably trying to tell the reader that you have to make your own decisions regardless of what others may think, because you never know, your best friend could be a psychopath. Every day of school, Mr. Griffin, the English teacher would arrive just as the bell sounded. One day, when he asked for homework assignments, Jeff Garrett raised his hand asking for extra time. Considering, that he had a basketball game the previous night, he had no time to accomplish the assignment. Mr. Griffin, a perfectionist, who would never accept late papers, refused to break his rule now, for such a poor excuse. This aggravated Jeff, so he discussed his anger with Mark Kinney. Mark had a reputation for knowing what to do in almost any situation. David Ruggles was upset too. His homework had been completed, but `to talled' by accident. When Mr. Griffin gave him an "F," it ruined his scholarship chances for college and probably his career in law. Needless-to-say, he too was deeply angry. He also talked to Mark. And, Mark had a big axe to grind with Mr. Griffin, who had humiliated him for dishonesty. So, he came up with another real, crazy idea. He proposed that they kidnap, (but not kill) Mr. Griffin. To most people Jeff would most likely have said "No," but there was something about Mark that Jeff just couldn't resist. Mark had an easy persuasive power over you when he suggested something. Susan McConnell and Betsy Cline just seemed to get caught up in momentum of the plan being hatched. Anyway, a couple days later Mark finally convinced Jeff, Betsy, David, and Susan to help out in the kidnaping. Mark planned each step out and decided what to do in case of emergencies. When the group kidnaped Mr. Griffin, they took him to the mountains, but he died unexpectedly. It turns out that the reason Mr. Griffin died was because Mark destroyed Mr. Griffin's nitroglycerine pills for his heart condition, leaving him unprotected when he had a heart problem. So, they buried him in the ground and pretended as if the whole thing never occurred. However, there were mistakes made that ruined their alibis and finally got them caught, saving Susan's life. To make a long story short, Mark, their cool-headed leader, turned out to be a cold-hearted psychopath. He ruined many people's lives. When he was 12 years old, he set fire to a cat. He also killed his father when he was young, by burning his house down. Perhaps as a result, his mother went crazy and later died. He orchestrated Mr. Griffin's demise, and as part of a cover up, caused David's Grandmother, Irma Ruggles death as well. He was well on his way to murdering Susan when he was finally stopped. Another indication of psychopathy was his power over other people. Mark was such a good leader that he had his schoolmates tangled up like spider prey before they realized the danger they were in. I thought that this was an absolutely awesome book, and am looking forward to reading more books by Lois Duncan. I would definitely recommend this book to teenagers across America.Book Review: Cold Blooded Students
Summary: 3 Stars
Mr. Griffin is not a popular teacher in his high school. He teaches English, and he is extremely demanding of his students, requiring them to think beyond any other teacher has ever required. He doesn't give out good grades, and if a student fails his class, he makes that student take the class over the next year. He is infamous in the high school, hated by many, especially Mark, whom he failed for copying a term paper and made beg to be allowed to retake his class.
Some of Mr. Griffin's students are fed up with him. Mark, in his second year of this class, is still holding a grudge. Jeff, a basketball player and Betsy, a cheerleader, have always been able to cruise through school without much problem, but Mr. Griffin doesn't let them get away with passing in lousy work. David, the president of the senior class, is getting his first bad grades, which won't help his chances at getting into good colleges. And Sue is getting good grades but not what she is used to. More importantly, she is in love with David, who doesn't even seem to notice her.
Mark is the one who comes up with the plan. He and Jeff and Betsy and David will use Sue as bait to keep Mr. Griffin after school. When he walks out to his car at the end of the day, they will kidnap and blindfold him. They will take him to a remote location and scare him enough that he will never forget it. And, perhaps, he will rethink his ideas about teaching.
When the students kidnap Mr. Griffin, though, things go terribly wrong. Sue is shaken up when Mr. Griffin shows concern for her safety instead of his own. Then Mr. Griffin refuses to act sorry or scared. The students decide to simply leave him for a few hours to think about his situation. But when they return later that night, Mr. Griffin is dead. Will these teenagers be able to get away with murder?
This book was well written and believable. Each character had a background that was made clear to the reader, and each one was in danger of being found out at any given time. I liked Mr. Griffin and his rationale for the way he taught his class.
This book was terribly sad, though, especially the parts with Mrs. Griffin in them. I didn't like that these normal high school students could so easily turn into killers. I didn't like that the other students were so easily manipulated by Mark, and that they turned out to be so cold-hearted about everything that was going on.
Book Review: TV Movie Better Than Book
Summary: 3 Stars
"Killing Mr. Griffin" was the first Lois Duncan book I ever read. It was assigned in my tenth grade English class, but I doubt I read it, because when the TV movie aired in 1997 (only a couple years after my class), I didn't have a clue what it was about. So, after watching the movie, I decided to "reread" the book.The plot is somewhat the same: a group of high school kids plan to abduct their English teacher as revenge for his unfair treatment of his students. Their plan hits a snag when Mr. Griffin suddenly dies on them before they can release him. Now they face the possibility of murder charges unless they all can cover their tracks and swear to secrecy.
While the movie focuses on Susan McConnell as the lead character, the book randomly switches between her and the other four (five in the movie) characters (Mark Kinney, David Ruggles, Betsy Cline, and Jeff Garrett), never really settling on anyone as the "good guy". The "bad guy" is obvious though--Mark Kinney--, but even he is too psychotic, killing anyone who gets in his way, including David's invalid grandmother. Susan, who I expected to be the practical mind in the group, was just plain weak and annoying. Even David was pretty unredeemable after drugging his own grandmother so he could have a solid alibi.
If you hadn't guessed, the only good thing that came out of this book was the movie, which I highly recommend over the book. The idea for "Killing Mr. Griffin" was pretty interesting, especially if you're a high school student with a teacher like Mr. Griffin, but the writing wasn't the best. None of the characters were worth getting to know, plus some of the events were unbelievable, i.e., how Susan and David were recruited--it was too easy to convince them to help.
The book isn't very engaging, but if you're a Lois Duncan fan, you might like this one. Otherwise, I'd skip it.
Book Review: "WE CANT SCARE MR.GRIFFIN LIKE THAT"
Summary: 5 Stars
WHEN I READ THIS BOOK, IT ACTUALLY HAS SOMETHING IN COMMON WITH WHAT IS HAPPENING RIGHT NOW IN MY SCHOOL AND IT'S REALLY FREAKY!
FIRST OF ALL, MY ENGLISH TEACHER IS STRICT REALLY STRICT AND SHE WILL RIP YOUR ENGLISH PAPER IF SHE SEES A MARK ON IT EVEN IF IT'S WRINKLED AND SHE WILL GIVE YOU DETENTION AND A REALLY BAD GRADE!
WELL, THAT NEVER HAPPENS TO ME NOT ACTING COOL OR ANYTHING BUT THE GIRL IN THIS BOOK (THE SMART AND NICE ONE) GOT INVOLVED FOR KILLING MR.GRIFFIN BUT SHES REALLY NICE AND THE TEACHER LIKED HER AND WAS EXPECTING MORE FROM HER.
I FORGOT HER NAME CUZ I READ IT LONG TIME AGO. ONE OF THE STUDENTS IN MR.GRIFFINS CLASS GOT IN TROUBLE FOR NOT HAVING HIS HOMEWORK CAUSED BY THE BASKETBALL GAME AND A LOT OF STUDENTS HATE HIM SO THEIR POSSE DECIDED TO SCARE HIM NOT TO "KILL" HIM BUT THEY NEED MORE PEOPLE FOR IT SO THEY CAME UP WITH HAVING THE GIRL (FORGOT HER NAME) AND DAVID (I GUESS) BUT JUST FOR A LITTLE PART.
EVERYTHING WENT WRONG AND IT WAS NOT WHAT THEY PLANNED! THEY LEFT MR.GRIFFINS BODY WHERE THEY TIED HIM UP ALL NIGHT AND THEY DIDNT KNOW THAT THEIR TEACHER WAS SICK SO HE DIED!
THE GIRL (MAIN CHARACTER) WAS SO GUILTY AND SHE CRIED ALL NIGHT CUZ SHE COULDNT BELIEVE IT! MR.GRIFFINS WIFE KNEW THAT "THE GIRL" SOMEHOW KNEW HOW HER HUSBAND DIED.
THE END OF THE BOOK WAS ABOUT WHAT "THE GIRL" FEELS WHEN SHE SAW THE LETTER FROM HER TEACHER (MR.GRIFFIN)
IT WAS REALLY SAD CUZ ITS HARD TO KNOW THAT YOU WERE PART OF WHAT HAPPENED AND YOU COULDNT STOP YOURSELF FROM BLAMING YOU. ITS HARD TO REALIZE THAT THE PERSON YOU KILLED ONLY WANTED THE BEST FOR YOU AND YOUR FUTURE.
YOU CAN LEARN THINGS ABOUT THIS BOOK AND WE SHOULD KEEP IT IN MIND!
(NEVER HURT A PERSON BECAUSE OF WHAT THEY ARE CUZ SOMETHING MIGHT HAPPEN THAT YOU DONT EXPECT OR IT MIGHT JUST END UP "DEADLY")