Danny's Mom
A Novel
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4.5 • 2 Ratings
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- £7.99
Publisher Description
Friday 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 demonstrates what really goes on behind the closed doors of our schools and our homes. This unforgettable novel 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.
Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Arcade, Yucca, and Good Books imprints, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in fiction—novels, novellas, political and medical thrillers, comedy, satire, historical fiction, romance, erotic and love stories, mystery, classic literature, folklore and mythology, literary classics including Shakespeare, Dumas, Wilde, Cather, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Former high school teacher Wolf's thin novel for adults (after Camp, a YA novel) begins with Beth and Joe Maller arguing over letting their 17-year-old son, Danny, drive during a snow storm. Joe telling Beth that she should "stop babying him," followed by Danny pleading, makes Beth relent. Hardly a breath later, Danny dies in a road accident. Beth blames Joe, and soon their marriage, based on little more than physical attraction, deteriorates to bare civility. Beth works as a high school guidance counselor, where she butts heads with the assistant principal, who turns a blind eye to the serious bullying and homophobia going on at the school. When Beth tries to protect students who can't protect themselves, she goes head to head with the administration in a fight that might cost her everything. Wolf's broadly drawn exploration of grief and coping is unfortunately filled with tedious caricatures rather than characters. Readers may sympathize with Beth's loss, and the topical problem of bullying, but the story falls short.
