There are better satires of youth's obsession with cool (see Ned Vizzini's "Be More Chill" ), but this account of Kate's rise, fall and rise makes for an entertaining and occasionally surprising high school tale.
In the hours that followed, it was thrilling to see online conversations ensue as writers spoke with passion and a deep nostalgia about their favorite Duncan novels: the paranormal boarding school tale Down a Dark Hall, the chilling teen thrillers I Know What You Did Last Summer and Killing Mr Griffin, countless others.
It also very specifically starts to reveal the chassis of a literary tradition prized by film buffs of all ages: the boarding school or prep school tale, which has been so successfully adapted to film as to qualify as a cinematic sub-genre.
Instead of the Sunday school tale of the ark and animals, we are given a grownup story of a family struggling to be faithful, obedient, loving, and compassionate, in the face of widespread intolerable evil.
Storykit is a free iPhone app parents can use to quickly build picture books with children, using on-the-spot photos or old-school tales that are ripe for rewriting.
4. Dear Zoo Floor Puzzle £7.99, dearzooshop.co.uk Floor puzzles are a great introduction to jigsaws for little hands and this one features images from the "lift the flap" Dear Zoo children's story books – one of the best-loved pre-school tales of all times.
But there were reasons to admire the Everlys other than their vocal harmonies: with their giant quiffs and Hollywood smiles, Phil and Don exuded American cool, while their songs (many written by Nashville husband and wife team Felice and Boudleaux Bryant) mixed sweet ballads like Devoted To You with sly high-school tales (Poor Jenny) and teen angst wails such as When Will I Be Loved.
But much of her work is firmly anchored in the past, whether it be Jordan Scott's boarding-school tale Cracks or Richard Linklater's Me and Orson Welles.
That history hovers in "Chasing Mavericks" as the macramé-and-chakra backdrop for a resolutely old-school tale, by turns seductive and cornball, about a master, a young grasshopper and the Way of the Wave.
