Breaking School Rules is Easy by Rosie Schonell
Title: Breaking School Rules is Easy
Author: Rosie Schonell
Genre: Mystery
Publisher: Wings ePress
Published: 1st March 2025
Format: Paperback
Pages: 258
Price: $32.75
Synopsis: Best friends Minty and Billie become aware that something strange is happening in their town. Who are the two suspicious people heading down the forbidden path that leads to the abandoned house at the back of the school? What are they carrying and why is it rolled up in carpet? When the girls investigate, they stumble upon an ancient mystery involving a lost treasure. Suddenly they’re caught in a web of cryptic clues, spirits, a family curse and something much bigger than they could have imagined.
With the news that Billie may have to change schools if she doesn’t win a scholarship the treasure becomes their best hope of saving their friendship- but only if they find it first. To do so they must break almost every school rule, outsmart a watchful headmistress, a scary teacher in charge of discipline, and a pesky new girl who threatens to derail their plans.
Minty must dig deep to find her courage, Billie wants to make her mum proud, and both girls come to understand that exam marks are not the only measure of success.
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Minty and Billie are junior students at Mirrabooka Girls College in a small town, where not much happens. There are stories of the town’s history and the tragedy-stricken Abercrombie family. During their current year at the school, they notice strange things happening, and two suspicious people who are not quite what they seem. Who head towards the abandoned house – Ravenswatch, carrying odd things. Minty and Billie are keen detectives, and set out to investigate…but they have to get around all the school rules first, and contend with Viola, a bully determined to get everyone into trouble and show the teachers how good she is.
But that doesn’t stop Billie and Minty following the trail of Abercrombie ghost stories and cryptic clues to try and find a treasure – before Billie has to change schools and whilst trying to outsmart scary teachers and a headmistress determined to ensure every girl follows every rule properly. Even though breaking a few rules is easy enough, and could lead to a discovery that will change things forever.
Breaking School Rules is Easy is a middle grade mystery that takes what people love about treasure hunts and ghosts and combines them to create an exciting story. It’s gentle at times, but also has great moments filled with tension, and is paced well, allowing the characters to grow and the clues to fall throughout the story. Each clue is also a puzzle or riddle, which works well to reveal how differently clues and riddles can be interpreted by different people or at different times throughout the story, ensuring that there are enough ups and downs and red herrings to create a compelling story.
As a mystery, it is written well for a middle grade audience, who will enjoy it and relate to the ups and downs of growing up like Minty and Billie. Because everyone has things they don’t like about themselves or challenges, and books like this can get the emotions and uncertainty just right – especially for kids at the age of around 12-14 where everything that changes feels like it will bring everything to an end. And let’s be honest – some changes can feel like that for anyone, at any age. It’s delightful in how it captures the preteen to early teen sense of being, what they like, what they do, and how they relate to their peers. What loyalty means to them and what bullying can look like. Even going into why Viola is so mean to everyone.
It also captures the thrill of breaking rules, but without putting the girls in too much danger. They’re allowed to push the boundaries a bit, deal with the consequences and at times, there might be a good outcome. It felt like this book was cleverly plotted and paced, even if Minty and Billie had to break every school rule to make sure it all worked. For kids who love a good mystery story, this could be a fun one to give them, and could even introduce new readers to the mystery genre. It’s a decent story that has everything I like in a middle grade mystery, and I didn’t think it was too predictable – it had a good balance of being able to guess things and being able to discover things with the reader. To me, this is what makes a good mystery, where I can work things out but still be surprised.