The author of the award-winning thriller Anybody’s Daughter explores the bullying epidemic and its devastating aftermath. What Really Goes on Behind School Doors?When the classroom is no longer a safe space for her child, a grieving mother is determined to seek justice for her bullied daughter. Enter hard-charging attorneys Angela Evans and Jenny Ungerman. From the start, the two lawyers face … lawyers face more than an uphill battle.
An ambitious school principal is far more concerned about protecting her career than getting to the truth. She flat out denies any knowledge of the bullying and prefers to sweep everything under the rug. But just how low will she go?
As the battle enters the courtroom, the attorneys fight hard to expose the truth. But will a massive coverup hinder their quest for justice?
Visit Pamela’s website at www.pamelasamuelsyoung.com.
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I don’t normally read legal thrillers, but there was something about Failure to Protect by Pamela Samuels Young that drew me in. I think it’s because I was bullied as a child, but mostly because I’m a mom now. My oldest son has high functioning Autism and ADHD. He was bullied one year in school, and his school seemed to not do anything about it. Failure to Protect was a very emotional read, and I’m really glad I decided to give it a try.
The plot for Failure to Protect was solid. Nine-year-old Bailey Lewis is constantly being bullied at her school. When something major happens, Bailey’s mother, Erika, decides to sue the elementary school. However, the principal, Darcella, is more concerned with keeping the school’s good record intact instead of worrying about bullied students. The principal will do whatever it takes to make sure her school’s stellar reputation doesn’t get soiled even if it means doing some bullying herself.
Pamela Samuels Young did such a stellar job with the world building. Her knowledge of the court process and justice system is fantastic. Young is an attorney, and it’s obvious she knows her stuff. Unfortunately, the subject of bullying in schools is all too real, and sadly, many schools are more worried about their reputation and all the paperwork and time a bullying case would take than actually caring about a bullied student. This fiction novel reads like a true story. There are a few plot twists which make this book even more interesting! Failure to Protect also answered every question I had. There’s no speculation in Failure to Protect, and there’s also no cliffhangers. This book is part of a series, but it’s the first book I’ve read in the series, and I feel like it works as a standalone.
The pacing in Failure to Protect is done perfectly. Every single paragraph, and every single chapter flowed smoothly into the next. Not once did I want to put this book down. It had my attention throughout! I was also a fan of the short chapters which I felt helped with the pacing.
The best thing about Failure to Protect, besides everything, were the characters. Each character had such a unique personality which really helped them to feel like a real person rather than just a character in a novel. I loved little Bailey, and I just wanted to hug her and let her know that I’d protect her against her bully. It was heartbreaking reading about all she went through in her young life from losing her father not too long ago to being relentlessly bullied in school and online. I also felt horrible for her mother Erika. She also went through two horrible tragedies including one a parent should never have to go through. I was constantly in her corner, and I kept rooting for her throughout the whole bullying ordeal with the school. Erika felt like what happened to Bailey was mostly her fault, and I wanted to tell Erika that sometimes it’s not easy to know everything about our children. Dre was my favorite character. I enjoyed his thought process and how passionate he was about everything. It was obvious how much he loved his goddaughter Bailey. I loved how Angela grew as a character when it came to her relationship with Erika. At first, she wasn’t big on Erika, but it was obvious how much she did end up caring for her. Angela and Jenny were both fantastic attorneys, and I loved how they were willing to dedicate all their time and knowledge for Bailey’s case. Darcella, the principal, was such a horrible person. Young did a fantastic job at creating Darcella to be the antagonist. So many times I was so angry with Darcella. I wanted to just shake her and ask her why she didn’t do anything for Bailey. Darcella does explain why she decided to overlook the bullying, but I just wanted to know why she bothered to work in a profession dealing with children if she didn’t have any empathy. I was so annoyed with Darcella. I was also annoyed with Ethan Landers, Darcella’s attorney. I know he was just doing his job at the end of the day, but it wasn’t easy to read about how he could just side with the enemy. Zola, Bailey’s teacher, was also an interesting character. She was so conflicted about doing the right thing, and I liked reading about why she chose to do what she did. Apache, Dre’s best friend, was a minor character in Failure to Protect, but he gets a mention because I loved his scenes. He was such a character, and I loved how comical he was especially when it came to helping out Dre.
Trigger warnings in Failure to Protect include bullying, racism, sexual situations (although not too graphic), suicide, death, lying, alcohol, mentions of past drug use and selling, profanity, and mentions of violence.
All in all, Failure to Protect is an emotionally well written novel. It would make a fantastic Lifetime movie – at least that’s what I kept thinking whilst reading it. The story line is something that unfortunately is so commonplace in a lot of schools. I would definitely recommend Failure to Protect by Pamela Samuels Young to those aged 18+. I think this is a book that everyone should read and can relate to on at least some level. If you do decide to read Failure to Protect (which you should), please know that you’ll feel a vast range of emotions!
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(A special thank you to Pamela Samuels Young for providing me with an eBook of Failure to Protect in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.)
Pamela Samuels Young deftly displays her command of the legal system with a witty, timely, and powerful look at how bullying has invaded our schools, divided our country, and become a litigation nightmare for those seeking justice.
The story opens with nine-year-old Bailey Lewis debating whether to tell her harried mother about Kiya Jackson, the school bully. In these first few chapters, not only are we taken into Bailey’s world and forced to watch her suffer alone, but we are also prompted to examine our belief system as the adults around her ignore the truth. This alone makes for a compelling read, but Young adds another captivating layer—a lawsuit against the school—that drives some adults deeper into denial while others scramble to understand.
One scene that beautifully conveys this dynamic is the conversation on childhood depression between Dre and his neighbor Hannah. After revealing her own heartbreak, she informs Dre that “the number of black kids under twelve who die by suicide is twice that of white kids.” This alone blew me away, but the scene grows even more profound when she informs Dre that depression is an illness and defines the ideological differences between the terms “committed suicide” versus “died by suicide.” Hannah later reveals several strategies parents use to help prove bullycide cases—one of which becomes a point of contention as Angela prepares for her big day in court.
Sure, all of that feels very heavy out of context, but I believe this symbiosis between character and cause is what makes this book brilliant. Young provides a master class on how to develop endearing characters who bring functional facts to the story without feeling preachy. Readers will also appreciate the author’s ability to cover a large range of tough social issues—gentrification, race relations, police profiling, black professionalism, and the trials of single parenthood—while remaining steadfastly focused on the theme that our children should never suffer alone.
The author also does a fantastic job of teasing out the tension in every situation by devising short chapters that rotate through the perspectives of our main characters. Each snippet answers one question then leads to another three in an eerily addictive manner will have you turning pages all night long.
**Reader’s Note: Pick up this book even if you haven’t read the rest of the series. You won’t have any trouble following along!