Books for Company: Guest Post : Behind The Scenes at the Academy by C.J. Harper

Thank you so much to C.J. for a great guest post.

I love guest posts like this which give an insight into the book. I read and loved The Disappeared, if you haven't read it I definitely recommend it!

Behind the Scenes at the Academy

In The Disappeared, Jackson starts out as a geeky genius who has a bright future in the Leadership. He studies at a Learning Community where pupils are well-fed and well-cared for. When a violent incident turns Jackson’s life upside-down, suddenly the teachers at the Learning Community claim never to have seen him before and Jackson is dumped in an Academy school. I wanted the Academy to be a place of fear and brutality (pretty much like my old school). The mistreatment of the students (known as Specials) stems not only from the teachers, but also from the building itself. The physical structures of the Academy show just how carefully the oppression of these students had been planned.

The Grid
When I was a teacher I used to think that getting all my pupils to sit down at the same time was a bit like a game of whack-a-mole. As soon as I got one in his chair another one would pop up on the other side of the room. I used to fantasize about the kind of straps that you use to pin a toddler into his car-seat. Classrooms at the Academy are called Grids because of the way the room is divided up by metal partitions into tiny compartments. Each Special sits in one of these sections and the teacher controls the doors to the compartments with her computer. Also, Specials have to wear EMD bracelets, which the teacher can activate to give an electric shock if anyone is committing a terrible crime. Like whispering or slouching.

Teacher’s Cages
I used to teach a boy who sometimes got very cross. He didn’t like reading, he didn’t like writing, and he especially didn’t like it when I said ‘Get down from there!’ or ‘Take that out of your trousers!’ When he was cross he used to stamp across the classroom towards me. I used to think it would be nice to work in a bank because even though sometimes people try to rob you, at least you get that bulletproof glass for protection. In the Academy the teachers rule their classes from the safety of a cage. But, as Jackson discovers, the thing about a cage is that if you are inventive enough you can make a weapon that will fit through the bars.

The Making Rooms
Jackson assumes that some sort of craft activity takes place in these special rooms. He couldn’t be more wrong.

The Dormitories
I’ve got a friend who was excluded when she was found in the boys’ dormitory of her boarding school after lights out. Obviously, she had only popped in there to borrow Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, but there were very strict rules about that sort of thing so she was out. At the Academy the teachers are entirely unconcerned with the emotional welfare of the Specials, so not only are the dormitories extremely basic, they’re also mixed-sex. Poor, girl-shy Jackson has grown up in a puritanical society and he is appalled that he’s got to share a room with the opposite sex. How is he ever going to take his trousers off?

The Exits
There’s only one. You need an ID card and a password to open the door. If you can manage that what you see once the door opens might make you realise that you’re not so keen to get out after all.

The Dining Hall
At primary school I was once presented with a chunk of liver for my dinner. I refused to eat it, so a dinner-lady held my nose, till I opened my mouth, and shoved a forkful in (this was in the olden days when dinner ladies could do things like that without getting sued.) I didn’t want to go back to school for weeks. There’s nothing scarier than school dinners. At the Academy, Specials eat in a huge warehouse-like hall. Narrow rows of tall metal boxes, similar to a school locker, stretch as far as you can see. These are the Feeding pods. Jackson is so disgusted by what happens in these that he decides he’d rather starve.

The Kitchen
The teachers don’t eat in feeding pods. They have their own dining room and although their food isn’t fancy, it’s a feast compared to what the Specials get. Jackson is desperate for a chance to grab some of their food, but first he’s got to crack the door access code and pick the lock on the fridge. He finds more than he bargained for in the kitchen at midnight.

The Drum-Shaped Room
At one of the schools I worked at there was a cylindrical room with tiered seating going all the way round, a bit like an amphitheatre. We called it ‘the drum’. It was mostly used for talking to big groups of students, but I always thought it would be a great place to stage a fight. In the Academy there is a very similar room and all of the Specials’ fights take place there, so that the audience can get a really good view of the blood spilled. Obviously, I never actually made my classes fight to the death in that room. And anyone who says I did has forgotten that secrecy contract I made them sign.