It’s that time! And it’s not just the kids — everyone feels that back-to-school energy, whether you’re attending school, hauling kids to school or just dodging all the kids back on campus. We can all relate, especially if we can read it in a book. Here are some great new books that feature school or education as a central theme or setting. Some may be fun and some may be terrifying.
First up is a new historical fantasy set at the elite and remote island academy, Catenan Academy of the Catenan Republic. “The Will of the Many” by James Islington, is the first book in the “Hierarchy” series. Those at the top of the hierarchy draw the “Will,” or energy, from those below them in order to add to their own power. How to describe this book? Think Hogwarts, but set during the Roman Empire. There is a magical school, political intrigue, high-stakes action and incredible world-building. There is plenty of evil to overcome in this one, and, if you are easily triggered, it might not be for you. But, there is also so much heart and light in this 600-page volume.
Next, we have “Some Strange Music Draws Me In” by Griffin Hansbury. Told in alternating narratives set in 1984 and 2019, Max is on probation from his teaching position for using transphobic language. The irony is that Max is transgender. He goes home after the death of his mother to help his very conservative older sister clean out the family home and, during the process, reflects on his coming of age in 1984 when, as a young girl named Melanie, a transgender woman befriended him. This very thoughtful novel shows the strength of queer communities and the support they provide to counter the violence that is always present just under the surface. This novel examines the complicated narratives of gender, sexuality and class.
“In Memoriam” by Alice Winn is set in England in 1914. Two young school boys, Guant and Ellwood, are at an elite school far from the war and happen to fall in love. At the request of his German family and in order to ease some anti-German sentiments, Guant decides to enlist and is thrown into the violence and chaos of war. Ellwood can’t help but follow. The artful contrast between the horrors of war and the tenderness the two feel for each other makes this a captivating debut novel.
The real-life Dozier School for Boys in Marianna, Florida is the loose model for “The Reformatory,” located in the fictitious town of Gracetown in the Jim Crow South. Robert, a young black boy, is sent to the reformatory school for kicking the knee of his white bully. His sister, who has visions of the future, and his grandmother are working to get him released. His father, who is trying to organize for civil rights, has fled the South and his efforts come back to torture the boy. Author Tananarive Due’s writing blends mystery/thriller with historical fiction and is completely engrossing. As horrifying as the story is, there is also an undertone of hopefulness.
Here is another historical fiction mystery/thriller for you. Dennis Lehane’s “Small Mercies” is set in Boston in 1974 during school desegregation when the city is in the midst of a “busing battle” because the US District Court ruled that the Boston School Committee had ‘systematically disadvantaged black school children’ in the public school system. It’s against this background of racist violence and class tension that a black teen boy is found dead, while across town a white teen girl goes missing. As the girl’s mother searches for her daughter, it’s unclear whether the two events are related.
On the lighter side, tag along with Marley Cicero, who never planned to come back to her high school after the mean girls there made her life miserable. Twenty years later she finds herself back in her parent’s house in the same small town and back at Culpepper High in a temporary job as gym coach. “Rock Bottom Girl” by Lucy Score is a delightfully funny, but at times very serious, romantic comedy. The weather may be cooling, but the romance in this book is still hot!
