Kirjahaku

For ages 12+. Eighth-grader Hank Collins has quit his Little League team because he dislikes the coach, and now his summer promises to be long and boring. His divorced parents are preoccupied -- his mother is happily smoking pot with her new husband and his father is having an affair with his secretary -- and they pay little attention to Hank. Only his stepmother (Perfect-Lady-Karen) seems to notice him, and her attentions lead to preachy Bible sermons and little else. Hank spends much of his time near the Gunpowder River, where he meets two older men who invite him to join their paintball team. He enjoys this diversion, and agrees to join them for a weekend camp-out tournament. On the excursion, Hank finds out that the two men are gay; unfortunately, so do their Christian homosexual-hating campmates, who chase them and kidnap Hank. The boy escapes, and is rescued by his English teacher, who is coincidentally driving home from a summer retreat.

For ages 12+. Jake takes place during one of the single most powerfully shaping times in a person's life -- secondary education. Through the metaphor of the utopian and fictitious St Stephen's Episcopal School, author Arch Montgomery shows us how our humanity can only be fully realised through other humans. The book depicts three deaths and one near-fatal disease while simultaneously tracking the rebirth of Jake, the titular and main character. He moves from a transparent 'only-good-as-I-have-to-be' mentality to a lifestyle of excellence and three-dimensionality with the help of his school, which is personified through the characters of Mary White, rector; George Meader, teacher; and Joel Kohn, student. On a continuum of education quality -- satisfactory, good, great, excellent, ideal -- where does St. Stephen's fall? Where does the school you went to, or your children go to, fall? These and many other questions arise in Jake, and beg to be discussed, because once problems are recognised, they can begin to get solved.