Riot school is part of a series of book that deals with topical issues and I found it to be a tear-jerking and compelling story especially at the time I requested it. Highly recommended.

Like all the Lorimer Side Streets books I've read, Riot School will appeal to YA readers who want to read about teens like themselves instead of vampires, mermaids, and rebels in dystopian society. Much as I've always liked those kinds of books, I'm aware there are those that don't and the Lorimer Side Streets books fill that hole in the YA reading list. Riot School is a little less straightforward, in that the main characters are, perhaps, just a little less sympathetic - though certainly not completely - and the ending is a bit ambiguous and not entirely happy. Good addition to a YA collection.

Bilan's school is going to be shut down, and kids will have to go by bus to a neighboring town for school instead. She and several of her classmates think this is an unfair decision. They are not even allowed to express their opinion to the school's governing body. Instead, they decide to protest the decision by carrying on with their studies at the closed school.

The story is easy to read and has a variety of diverse characters including Bilan who is an immigrant to Canada and another student who is homeless. I gave the book three stars because I felt like the characters were somewhat flat and not completely believable. The topic would relate well to advocacy and non-violent protests.

I reviewed an electronic ARC on NetGalley courtesy of the publisher.

Trigger Warning: Assault, Sexual Assault, 

That was really clever. It makes the argument for keeping the school open and the consequences if they don’t in a powerful way. It’s an open ending that leaves you to wonder what happens next for these kids. 

As with the other Sidestreets books, it’s short and straightforward making it easily recommendable to tweens and reluctant readers with the content and characters that even older teens can enjoy it. 

However, it didn’t handle Arn’s jealousy, insecurity, and anger issues well (major red flags) or his sudden 180 on vandalizing the school. The sexual violation and creep aspect of Bilan’s assault isn’t mentioned, other than it happening. There’s also no social media mention, other than “don’t spread it around for fear of parents getting word”, but I think after the adults found out, it’d have been more meaningful to bring social media back into play. 

"Injustice--and that is what we are facing here--is never small potatoes. It always has to be challenged. " --Bilan, Chapter 11.

This book seems like it tries to fit all types of people in. A group of kids gets together to protest and they are an extremely diverse bunch. They have to try to work with the system.

The book has an interesting idea and it is an easy read for young adults trying to improve their English skills, but I felt that most characters were just plain and the story not enough developed. The story has a lot of potential, also because it introduces contemporary political issues such as the Arab Spring, but most of it is not enough explored.

This book was a breath of fresh air: it was a true delight to read, with the masterful way an analysis on current affairs - and the society that prompts them- with the variety of complex characters that conduct the plot. But, at the same time, these characters are still people, not instruments to get the message across, and that's incredibly important in a story like this. These characters aren't (only) the brave and bold revolutionaries who carry out their fight for their right to be heard - they are also a bunch of teenagers with teenager lives, teenager minds, teenager feelings and drama, and to develop that as successfully as it was here, not letting ONE side of the characters' persona out of side at any time, it requires true skill.
A very relevant book for times where the kind of spirit these characters show is in such need in the real world.

Five students of very different backgrounds come together to protest the closing of their school. An interesting read written from the perspective of each of the participants of the protest. The students each have their own motivation-revealed in varying degrees-for participating in the protest and this gives the book a lot of potential.
It is written in the present tense, and this choice plus a lack of variety in sentence structures, gives it a rigid feel. The main protagonist becomes less sympathetic as the motives for her leading the protest-and for her leading on her boyfriend-become evident. Overall the book does not quite live up to the potential of the story line and characters.

Hmm...the potential was there but the story didn't really connect. The dialogue, what there was, was stilted and awkward and just didn't ring true.

This book was supposed to be about a protest carried out by a diverse group of teenagers who society either ignores or mistreats. With the exception of one guy who joins the protest mostly for his own whiny ambitions. But at the start, this book had problems but also promise. The promises went away and the problems got worse. Art is subjective but misrepresenting people and putting them in toxic stories is not. You can write about Muslims, people of color, vandalizing whites and so on from your own view. But when you as a writer create a book that you tout as teaching young people about how protests work, how people are, interaction with the police and those in authority and relationships. Then you have a responsibility to handle it with care. No matter that its fiction. This book instead does everything that will make you wonder if book publishing should have professional bouncers like many nightclubs do. And if you're wondering, no the writing isn't great, the characters sway wherever the story or their racial stereotype deems them to go and I want to go to bed.

Works nicely as a hi-lo, with an engaging set of diverse characters, a quick-moving plot, and a realistic if somewhat unsatisfying ending. If things tie up a bit too neatly, put that down to the brevity of the book and the necessity for quick resolution.

Once again, another winner! This series of books is always on point and takes an honest look at the issues that YA deal with every day.

Riot School is about friends who stick together, dealing with race, religion the two hot button topics right now.

Extremely well written, I found myself rooting for the "Gang of five" to overcome the petty ideas that so many people think are the right ones.

Pertinent and brave, excellent writing.

This is not an unpleasant story to read, but it is a bit underwhelming. The characters fell flat and while the story itself started out well, towards the end it seemed unrealistic. I wouldn't be able to make a spot for this book on my shelf.

I. thought this book was very clever in the way it used the students stand in at a school in Canada and compared it with the Arab uprising. By doing this Rayner helps us see that we too have opposition in our lives and how much we can stand up for our own rights peacefully.
I would recommend this book as an excellent read especially for the teenage and young adult group as it will show them an alternative to all the anger and rebellion which is too often on the news.
I really liked the variety of young people in the gang of five. The leader an immigrant to Canada, a girl whose life has been torn apart by her divorced parents and the three boys. It also introduced us to a supportive policeman and a renegade councillor, father to one of the boys. An excellent mixture.
I was given this book by Netgalley and the publisher. This is my voluntary review.

The book is easy to read, it's suitable for both teenagers and those who are learning English.
A group of boys (The gang of five) decides to oppose peacefully to the closure of their school. During the protest we know the characters and witness to their evolutionary transition.
The gang is made up of very different characters, which allows every type of reader to identify with the story.

Il libro è di facile lettura, adatto sia ad adolescenti che a chi sta imparando l'inglese.
Un gruppo di ragazzi (La gang of five) decide di opporsi, pacificamente, alla chiusura della loro scuola. Durante la protesta conosciamo i personaggi e assistiamo al loro passaggio evolutivo.
La gang è composta da personaggi molto diversi tra loro, il che permette ad ogni tipo di lettore di immedesimarsi nella vicenda.