Minor Dramas & Other Catastrophes

November 15, 2019
A mother who lives for, and through, her high school children suffers the consequences of her all-consuming obsession while she tries to oust a beloved teacher. Julia Abbott, a middle-aged stay-at-home mom in the elite enclave of Liston Heights, Minnesota, has an overflowing calendar and a laser focus on her children. Her days are filled with volunteer activities related to their high school and its theater department, catty coffees with fellow moms, and arguments with teachers who deign to give her children anything less than an A. When a gossipy secret Facebook group pops up with the inside info on teachers and school machinations, of course she jumps right in. Isobel Johnson, on the other hand, is an English teacher beloved by students who has devoted her life to social justice issues. She mentors a new teacher Jamie Preston and pushes her students to interrogate multiple perspectives such as queer theory, the motherhood penalty, and white savior complexes in the curriculum-mandated novels. And then there is the incident: Julia elbows a student (or is it a punch?) on school grounds in the middle of the school day, and the video goes viral. In a book that deals with dramas minor rather than major but is just as good as Liane Moriarty's Big Little Lies, debut author West offers a sharp, unflinching look at her characters: teachers and administrators trying to do--and keep--their jobs; busy, high-powered parents who buy the best they can for their families; helicopter mothers who see themselves as the omniscient beings who control their children's lives; and the high school students themselves, who sometimes have to learn about kindness and mentoring, bullying and inappropriate behavior by judging their parents' and teachers' actions rather than those of their peers. An excellent, nuanced exploration of the world of high school and the students and adults who live within it.

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February 1, 2020

DEBUT The politics of high school and the challenges they cause are at the heart of West's debut. Helicopter parents, overworked teachers, and the students who run the gamut of smarts and talent all play their parts to perfection. Chief among the overly involved parents is Julia Abbott, who is determined (some would say to the point of obsession) that her son get a speaking role in the upcoming play. She will go to any lengths and cross any boundary to achieve that goal. When her antics are filmed and posted online in a viral video, the impact is felt by her family, friends and the teachers--chief among them, popular teacher Isobel Johnson--and administrators at the school. As Julia tries to get out of her own way and Isobel begins to fear for her career, a private, gossipy Facebook group works to undermine them both. VERDICT Though the characterizations sometimes come a little too close to caricature, West has expertly captured the high school culture of today in a novel that is at times cringe-worthy and eventually hopeful. Readers of Amy Poeppel's Small Admissions and Liane Moriarty's Big Little Lies will want this one.--Jane Jorgenson, Madison P.L., WI

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February 10, 2020
West’s humorous debut channels the competitive parenting and overblown school drama of Big Little Lies. Isobel Johnson, an English teacher at a top public school in Liston Heights, Minn., is bent on encouraging her students to think critically, but the school’s administration and some of her students’ parents accuse her of spreading radical ideas. First, a discussion on The Great Gatsby, in which she invited her juniors to compare their school’s community to East Egg, allegedly results in some of the students being made to “feel bad about where they’re from,” so says her department chair. In chapters shifting between Isobel and a particularly over-the-top parent named Julia Abbott, fallout from another one of Isobel’s lesson—about queer theory—leads to her suspension and a virulent social media campaign led by Julia. While many different characters flash by in short chapters, distracting from Isobel and Julia and staving off opportunities for emotional complexity, West successfully unpacks the problems of shaming and cancel culture with tight plotting and clean prose. West demonstrates a worthy talent for tragicomedy.

January 1, 2020
Liston Heights is like any other high school: it's drama doesn't just play out on stage. There are helicopter parents, and then there's Julia Abbott. Having spent a considerable amount of time and money on a new costume shop, she's positive that her son will be rewarded with a plum part in Liston Heights' winter musical. When the cast list is posted, Julia can't help herself from heading to the school to see it in person, but her misplaced enthusiasm sets off a surprising chain of events. English teacher Isobel Johnson is another subject of Julia's recent attention. Attuned to her students' privilege, Isobel makes it a priority to open their eyes to a variety of perspectives. When some parents think Isobel's curriculum veers past liberal and into un-American territory, the administration gets involved. A cutting and witty examination of modern parenting that excels in suburban relatability, West's debut novel will pique the curiosity of fans of Maria Semple's Where'd You Go, Bernadette (2012) and Jean Hanff Korelitz's Admission (2009).(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)