School of Fear

Fear can be debilitating.  Fear of facing the truth about my dad was on my mind when I took the plane from London to go visit him.  He is old and suffers from Alzheimer’s disease.  Though I longed to see him, I had hesitated to make the long trip to Iran.  I was fearful that he would not recognize me and I would feel as if a big part of me was gone. I decided to read a book on the plane to laugh a little.  Its author, Gitty Daneshvari, is my cousin, and it is called School of Fear.

School of Fear is a children’s book, aimed at the 4^th-6^th grade age range.  It is a funny story, with nonstop humor and a cast of wildly eccentric characters.   It concerns four children of middle-school age, each of whom has an excessive fear, of insects, water, enclosed spaces, and dying.  These phobias dominate their lives and drive them to extreme measures, such as constantly wearing a veil of mosquito netting and a belt full of insect repellent. Having found no other means of helping them, their parents resolve to send them off to the mysterious School of Fear.

At a weird, decaying mansion completely isolated in the countryside, the elderly and seemingly demented headmistress gives them lessons of no apparent relevance about competing in beauty pageants.  A sudden crisis forces the children to band together on a dangerous adventure, leading to a surprising conclusion. Along the way, the children (and we, the readers) learn some important lessons about fear.

Everyone has his own fears (each chapter begins with the heading, “Everyone’s afraid of something,” followed by the name of some very exotic kind of phobia).   Fears are not cured or conquered, but managed on a daily basis.  Fears are personal and pressure from outside (e.g., the children’s parents) can do more harm than good.  And as the children discover, when pursuing a goal of great importance, even the most daunting fear can shrink in significance.  These ideas are never allowed to get in the way of the humor or the flow of the story, but are illustrated in a low-key but effective manner.

Reading School of Fear should make any child who is troubled by fear feel a little better.  It even made me feel better while I was traveling. I was going to Iran after quite a long time, and the country had changed a lot but the changes to my dad were much greater.  He has changed from the very intelligent, sharp, independent man I knew and with whom I had a privileged relationship to a frail person who has little interaction with the world around him and cannot even remember me.

The pollution in Tehran has become dreadful and it was a relief to drive to the pure air of Lavasan, a town some 40km to the northeast.  I was visiting Gitty’s grandmother, who is in the same situation as my dad.  She used to speak a beautiful, eloquent Persian, but like my dad, she has now fallen silent.  Despite their infirmities, their spirit remains.  I can feel my dad’s spirit in me and know that it will always be a part of me.   My fear had held me back, but finally my love for my dad was the more powerful force.  It made me sad to see him, but I also feel a greater sense of peace.

Warner Brothers has bought the rights to Gitty’s book, so watch out for the movie soon.  There is also a second book, School of Fear: Class Is Not Dismissed!, which you should certainly read if you enjoyed the first one.  I am on my way to do so.