The Kingdom of Childhood

April 18, 2011
Coleman (Desperado City) creates a stark psychological drama in this charged story of a sexual relationship between a teacher and an underage student. Suburban Maryland 40-something Judy McFarland is married to "a cranky old asshole," dotes on her high school senior son, and teaches kindergarten at the humanistic-oriented Sylvania Waldorf School, where she supervises 16-year-old Zach Patterson as he fulfills his service hours requirement at the school's woodworking shop. Soon Judy embarks on a tryst with the compliant Zach, and as thoughts of the potential legal consequences of their clandestine relationship weigh on her, Judy comes unhinged and her sexual predations grow more pathetic, even brutish. Meanwhile, flashbacks fill in Judy's childhood spent in Germany, where early traumasâunwell mother, philandering fatherâtook root, though it's unclear whether these are intended to justify or illuminate. As Judy's life barrels toward a dark end, it becomes a chore for the reader to remain sympathetic to her increasingly drastic plight. It's dark, fast-moving, and, for the most part, nicely creepy with a solid noirish vibe, though Judy's transition from a Mrs. Robinson figure to something much more maniacal is a bit of a stretch.

Starred review from June 15, 2011

Immersed in the educational philosophy of her Waldorf school, teacher Judy McFarland spends her days preserving the innocence of her kindergartners while yearning to recapture her idyllic childhood in Germany. In her attempts to return to her youth, Judy begins an affair with Zach, a 16-year-old student at her school. As Judy and Zach are drawn into inescapable sexual obsession, Zach finds himself growing up too fast, while Judy is liberated and consumed by their relationship, on the brink of madness. Told in Judy's and Zach's voices, as well as secrets-revealing flashbacks, the narrative divulges that sometimes in trying to relive the innocence of childhood we destroy everything. VERDICT Coleman's debut novel is a disturbing yet enthralling read that attempts to illustrate why a teacher might decide to begin a sexual relationship with a student. Recommended for fans of Jodi Picoult's realistic, ethics-driven novels, as well as book clubs looking for interesting debate. With a reading group guide.--Katie Lawrence, Chicago

Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2011
Blame it on the times. During the late 1990s, age-inappropriate sexual liaisons were everywhere. The Clinton-Lewinsky scandal rocked the world, while teacher Mary Kay Letourneau seduced a 12-year-old student. Into this zeitgeist steps Judy McFarland, a respected kindgergarten teacher at an alternative private school, who conducts a misguided but intensely passionate affair with Zach Patterson, a 16-year-old transfer student struggling to find his way within an unfamiliar community. Fighting, and ultimately failing, to keep their illicit relationship secret, both teacher and student take perilous risks, brazenly meeting in public places, recklessly spending the night in Judy's home while her husband and son are away. And while the affair was doomed to fail, when it does, it implodes in a spectacular way. With behavior at once incendiary and unsavory, there are no heroes in Coleman's sure-to-be-controversial but gutsy debut novel. Nimbly exploring such hot-button issues as the abuse of power, betrayal of trust, and predatory nature of sexual obsession, it is poised to generate major book-group buzz.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)