Danny's Mom: A Novel - Softcover

Wolf, Elaine

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1628725133 ISBN 13: 9781628725131

Publisher: Arcade, 2015

Synopsis

"You think only students have to deal with bullying and backstabbing in high school? Think again." --Denver PostFriday Night Lights meets Ordinary People when Beth Maller returns to her job as a guidance counselor at Meadow Brook High School shortly after an unspeakable family tragedy. Railing against the everyday injustices she had overlooked until her world cracked apart, Beth stirs up the moral battles being waged in her school, where administrators cling to don't-rock-the-boat policies, homophobia snakes through the halls, and mean girls practice bullying as if it were a sport. As Beth struggles to find her "new normal," she must learn to speak out--risking the very life she's embraced.

Danny's Mom shows what really can happen behind the closed doors of our schools and our homes. This unforgettable novel, "a must-read for every parent," illustrates who's really responsible when our kids get hurt--and why it's so important to find the strength and courage to do the right thing, no matter what.A great choice for book clubs.

About this title

About the Author:

Elaine Wolf is an award-winning writer and the acclaimed author of Camp, a young adult novel (Sky Pony Press). Now well-known as the anti-bullying novelist,” she once worked as a high school teacher and public school district program administrator. The world she writes of is one she is passionate about and knows well. Elaine lives with her husband in Northampton, Massachusetts.

From Booklist:

Bullying permeates both the student body and faculty of Meadow Brook High School in Wolf’s unsettling novel. Wolf, the award-winning author of the young adult novel Camp (2012), writes primarily for adult readers as she follows a grieving mother and guidance counselor who channels her devastation over the sudden loss of her son into fierce advocacy for vulnerable teens. Wolf’s subject matter is valuable and convincing, including gay bashing, vicious gym-class harassment, and cliques among the faculty and administration that threaten to spill over into the classroom. The novel’s villains, however, tend to announce their malicious intentions too overtly at times. The best passages occur in more subtle moments, such as when the narrator realizes that adults often live in fear of teenagers, rather than the other way around. Adult readers may recognize their past selves in the fragile students hanging around outside the high school’s guidance office during passing period, hoping for a last-minute appointment or at least a nod from a reassuring face. --Carolyn Alessio

About this edition

• Publisher: Arcade
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1628725133
• ISBN 13: 9781628725131
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 240