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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.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
July 23, 2024 -
Formats
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Kindle Book
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OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9780593475409
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EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9780593475409
- File size: 1954 KB
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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February 1, 2024
YA author and high school teacher Mathieu, who wrote the Netflix-adapted Moxie, makes her adult debut with an ode to educators and a glimpse at the issues schools face as the death of an elderly substitute teacher in the faculty lounge of a high school sets off an unexpected chain of events. Prepub Alert.
Copyright 2023 Library Journal
Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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June 14, 2024
The Faculty Lounge opens dramatically, with the dead body of an octogenarian substitute teacher found on the ratty couch in the teachers' lounge, but the focus of Mathieu's adult debut is on the small and large ways that people touch one another's lives. The book explores the aftermath of this event--a group of staff members scatters the teacher's ashes at his request, with disastrous results--through the eyes of a large cast of high-school faculty members. Each chapter is told from a different point of view. Some chapters focus on a character filled with grief or having a drinking problem, one chapter shows the beginnings of young love. Even though the cast is wide, the illustrative vignettes go deeply into the background and circumstances of the characters, and this sentimental and funny book will appeal to readers of character-driven narratives. Told with the wry sense of humor and pragmatism exhibited by seasoned teachers themselves, this knowing commentary on trying to shape young minds while having to concede to parent demands and school-district expectations is unsurprisingly written by an author who has been a teacher for 20 years.COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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Starred review from July 12, 2024
YA author (Moxie; Bad Girls Never Say Die) Mathieu makes her adult debut with this story set at a public high school in Houston, with a charming cast of characters ranging from a jaded educator nearing retirement to an idealistic twentysomething experiencing impostor syndrome. They commiserate over low pay, enormous class sizes, persnickety central office bureaucrats, and local parents who lie. Despite the hassles, it's clear the vocation is filled with purpose and meaning. The teachers deploy snark and sarcasm to blow off steam. One teacher frequently escapes to a cramped book room just for some peace and quiet. An overburdened assistant principal secretly guzzles wine in her office and receives help from a colleague. The bonds among the staff members are genuine and touching. As a teacher, Mathieu knows the dynamics well. The book's structure works well, with each chapter focusing on a different staff member as the story advances through one full school year with some insightful flashbacks featured. The witty dialogue will keep readers' interest, and the social observations are topical and current. VERDICT This highly entertaining and fun book is especially recommended for educators and caregivers of school-age kids.--Leah Shepherd
Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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September 9, 2024
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. Agent: Kerry Sparks, Levine Greenberg Rostan.
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