The Faculty Lounge
A Novel
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- £3.49
Publisher Description
**An instant National Bestseller!**
A July 2024 LibraryReads Pick!
By the acclaimed author of Moxie, a funny, bighearted adult debut that is at once an ode to educators, a timely glimpse at today’s pressing school issues, and a tender character study, following a sprawling cast of teachers, administrators, and staff at a Texas high school
With its ensemble of warm and unforgettable characters, The Faculty Lounge shows readers a different side of school life. It all starts when an elderly substitute teacher at Baldwin High School is found dead in the faculty lounge. After a bit of a stir, life quickly returns to normal—it’s not like it’s the worst (or even most interesting) thing that has happened within the building’s walls. But when, a week later, the spontaneous scattering of his ashes on the school grounds catches the attention of some busybody parents, it sets in motion a year that can only be described as wild, bizarre, tragic, mundane, beautiful, and humorous all at once.
In the midst of the ensuing hysteria and threats of disciplinary action, the novel peeks into the lives of the implicated adults who, it turns out, actually have first names and continue to exist when the school day is done. We meet: a former punk band front man, now a middle-aged principal who must battle it out with the schoolboard to keep his job; a no-nonsense school nurse willing to break the rules, despite the close watch on their campus, when a student arrives at her office with a dilemma; and a disgruntled English instructor who finds himself embroiled in even more controversy when he misfires a snarky email. Oh, and there’s also a teacher make-out session in a supply closet during a lockdown.
As these people continue to manage the messiness of this school year, there is the looming threat of what will become of their beloved Baldwin High. Ultimately, at the heart of this unconventional workplace novel is a story of the power of human connection and of the joy of finding purpose in what it is we do every day.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
YA author Mathieu (Bad Girls) makes her adult debut with a satisfying ode to the faculty and staff of a Houston public high school. After the death of Mr. Lehrer, a beloved math teacher who continued on as a substitute after his retirement, Baldwin High officials plan to carry out his final wish and spread his ashes in the school's courtyard. Disaster occurs at the ceremony, as Lehrer's ashes blow into the face of the school's contentious PTO president. Mathieu then alternates perspectives between school employees as tensions are heightened by the PTO president. Major plot points revolve around a nurse who defies school policy by distributing pregnancy tests and an English teacher accused of advocating racism against white people by assigning The Autobiography of Malcolm X. There's also a charming story line involving a make-out session between two teachers locked in a room together during a gun scare. Taken together, the characters' stories cohere into a moving portrait of the teachers' and staff members' humanity and their dedication to the students. This is a winner.
