The Kingdom of Childhood

The Kingdom of Childhood is the story of a boy and a woman: sixteen-year-old Zach Patterson, uprooted and struggling to reconcile his knowledge of his mother's extramarital affair, and Judy McFarland, a kindergarten teacher watching her family unravel before her eyes. Thrown together to organize a fundraiser for their failing private school and bonded by loneliness, they begin an affair that at first thrills, then corrupts each of them. Judy sees in Zach the elements of a young man she loved as a child, but Zach does not realize that their relationship is—for Judy—only the latest in a lifetime of disturbing secrets.

One of Library Journal's Best Books of 2011 and a semifinalist in the 2010 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Competition, The Kingdom of Childhood was described by Publishers Weekly as "a scalding, engaging portrait of people at two very different stages of life, caught in a trap of their own making."

"Coleman's debut novel is a disturbing yet enthralling read...Recommended for fans of Jodi Picoult's realistic, ethics-driven novels, as well as book clubs looking for interesting debate."
––Library Journal, Starred Review

"Coleman writes with a flair for capturing the underbelly of the human psyche and the all-consuming nature of desire."
––Bookpage