Boy Who Owned the School vs Wildlife: Which Should You Read?

Both live on shelves: High schools, School Stories, Schools, Children's fiction, Fiction

Boy Who Owned the School Gary Paulsen · 1990 ★★★★☆ 3.8 85 pages · ≈ 1 h 34 m · Light

“Jacob Freisten stood in the shadow of the dumpster in back of the Reddi-Ralph store across from the high school and studied the front of the school carefully, as if considering buying it.”

Jacob Freisten's goal in life is to go about unnoticed. He's perfect at gliding past the jocks' lockers and sneaking into his English class. That was, until now. If Jacob wants to pass English, he must work for extra…

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Wildlife Fiona Wood · 2013 ★★★★☆ 3.7 385 pages · ≈ 7 h 08 m · Light

Two sixteen-year-old girls in Australia come together at an outdoor semester of school, before university--one thinking about boys and growing up, the other about death and grief, but somehow they must help each other…

Australia Grief Girls Teenagers

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Side by side

The verdict

Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
Boy Who Owned the School is the quickest read — about 1 hours vs 7 for Wildlife.
Wildlife has the widest readership — 4621 ratings behind its score.
Wildlife runs the darker storyline; Boy Who Owned the School stays the lighter read.

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How to choose

Want a one-evening read? Boy Who Owned the School ≈ 1h vs 7h for Wildlife In the mood for something dark? Wildlife a darker storyline than Boy Who Owned the School Want something lighter? Boy Who Owned the School an easier tone than Wildlife

Scores by source

	Boy Who Owned the School	Wildlife
Goodreads	—	3.7 (4621)
Hardcover	—	4.5 (8)
Google Books	4.0 (1)	—
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Reception

	Boy Who Owned the School	Wildlife
Ratings	1	4621
Editions	8	5
Film adaptations	—	1
Want to read	—	4100
Reading it now	—	39
Written reviews	—	409
Wikipedia attention	—	7452
Pages	85	385
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Questions readers ask

Which is rated higher: Boy Who Owned the School or Wildlife?

Boy Who Owned the School has the higher combined reader rating across sources (Boy Who Owned the School 3.8/5, Wildlife 3.7/5).

Which is shorter to read: Boy Who Owned the School or Wildlife?

Boy Who Owned the School is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: Boy Who Owned the School (85 pages, ≈ 1 h 34 m); Wildlife (385 pages, ≈ 7 h 08 m).

Which is harder to read: Boy Who Owned the School or Wildlife?

Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — Boy Who Owned the School: Light; Wildlife: Light.