#BookReview of School Tales: A Novel by Sharon Myrick

About the Book: Contemporary legend says the business of high school is boring and must forever be that way―that its sole purpose is to deposit tidbits of knowledge into young minds and standardize the way each attacks the world. School Tales begs to differ. As is made clear by its five spunky student narrators, high school, the home-base social institution for teenagers, exerts powerful agency over answers to fundamental questions―Who am I? What do I want to learn? Am I able to direct my life? Can I trust friends to be there for me? How do I find a sense of purpose in contributing to our world?―and is a time of struggle with life’s questions amidst intense pressure to make decisions by graduation and launch into adulthood.

Students in School Tales, living in a small town of the southern Shenandoah Valley in Virginia, encounter a number of personal and public issues including racism, anxiety, shame, a cross-country move, gender identity, immigration, family instability, depression, lack of self-direction, abuse, and law enforcement. The lessons they learn in school include the meanings of freedom, success, friendship, exploration, inquiry, confidence, false either/or choices, and dreaming. As these students take charge of their learning, the true goal of high school emerges―and the result is a truly heart-warming view of students building what they would call “a life worth living.”

Reviewed By: Rachael

Publisher: She Writes Press

Recommended Age: Young Adult

Genre: Short Stories

Goodreads | Amazon

   

My Review: I DNF'ed this book. I tried to finish it after constantly putting it down and picking it up (and that was a only a few of pages in!). The writing was unrealistic and teenagers do NOT talk like that. I couldn't connect with the characters at all because of that. Nothing seemed realistic enough to me about this whole story. And after that one part happened? I lost all interest. I couldn't stomach anymore of  the book.

Do I Recommend this book? No
 

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Posted in: 1 Star, Review, She Writes Press, Young Adult