Perfect for fans of Where’d You Go, Bernadette and Small Admissions, a wry and cleverly observed debut novel about the privileged bubble that is Liston Heights High—the micro-managing parents, the overworked teachers, and the students caught in the middle—and the fallout for each of them when the bubble finally bursts. When a devoted teacher comes under pressure for her progressive curriculum and … for her progressive curriculum and a helicopter mom goes viral on social media, two women at odds with each other find themselves in similar predicaments, having to battle back from certain social ruin.
Isobel Johnson has spent her career in Liston Heights sidestepping the community’s high-powered families. But when she receives a threatening voicemail accusing her of Anti-Americanism and a liberal agenda, she’s in the spotlight. Meanwhile, Julia Abbott, obsessed with the casting of the school’s winter musical, makes an error in judgment that has far-reaching consequences for her entire family.
Brought together by the sting of public humiliation, Isobel and Julia learn firsthand how entitlement and competition can go too far, thanks to a secret Facebook page created as an outlet for parent grievances. The Liston Heights High student body will need more than a strong sense of school spirit to move past these campus dramas in an engrossing debut novel that addresses parents behaving badly and teenagers speaking up, even against their own families.
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This book really hit home with me. It’s a butterfly wing effect book set in a school based community, rumours, lies, judgments, prejudices. I’ve seen smaller scale events like this, and the book brilliantly portrays that out-of-hand wildfire that starts small and gets crazy big. West is a skilled writer who controls the narrative beautifully then lets it run when it suits her. Sure to be picked up for film or TV. Definitely a book club smash hit in the making. One you’ll be phoning your friends to talk about. Go read it.
Five Things I Adored About Minor Dramas and Other Catastrophes
1.) The juicy insider setting. I love glimpses of other worlds in general; behind the scenes at a total hothouse of a school full of crazy parents, and you’ve just sprinkled catnip on my Fancy Feast.
2.) The there’s-a-reason-she’s-too-good-to-be-true main protagonist. There are plenty of characters and POVs here, but the primary one, a teacher determined to give her privileged students an ability to see beyond their bubble, seems at first to be almost too goody-two-shoes perfect—until you realize why she is who she is and why she takes it so far.
3.) The sympathy for everyone. Some people are right in this book. Others are not right, by which it’s possible I mean batshit crazy—but they are not without their reasons, and those reasons make them interesting and engaging and bring out at least a little empathy.
4.) The über-satisfying crashing resolution. I love it when a plot comes to fruition, people.
5.) All the points of view have an emotional arc. I’m not always crazy about swapping from POV to POV, especially when it’s being done for purely plot reasons, to tell us readers stuff we need to know—but here, there’s an emotional reason as well as a plot reason that we’re in everyone’s head.
Fans of The Gifted School, Small Admissions, Early Decision—this one’s for you for sure. #Pleasedon’tletmebethatparent #Ijustwanttoreadaboutthem
A smart and delightful story of entitlement, friendship, and overparenting, with page-turning twists galore. West writes across lines of class and generation with grace and ease. A big-hearted debut.
This is definitely a story I can picture playing out in real life. Parents who believe they can use their money and affluence to dictate the outcome of school events are sadly evident in today’s society.
What stood out most about this book though is the blatant attempt to undermine teaching staff.
Lies, deceit and in the end – friendship makes this a remarkable, realistic and relatable book!
Reads like a Hallmark Chanel movie
Very enjoyable read.
Anyone who knows a teacher in High school should enjoy this book!
I liked the author’s writing style and the way she addressed problems facing teachers in this world of social media and “mean-girl” helicopter parents. I enjoyed the author’s wit & character development.
I really enjoyed reading Minor Dramas and Other Catastrophes especially in light of the fact that my kids are out of school and I don’t have to deal with any of this anymore. This novel was a pleasant surprise because it was so true and yet so funny.
This is the perfect quarantine read! It moves along at a clip and will keep you reading late into the night. Loved the multiple narrators and this all-too-real at parents and teenagers in a high pressure situation. Such a fun escape!
A compulsive read. I loved this book about the mamas and dramas happening in this particular high school. The teaching world felt really authentic in this novel. Liston Heights is a well-drawn community, and I particularly enjoyed swapping viewpoints of the different characters affected by the unfolding events. MINOR DRAMAS also highlights the positives–and negatives–of using technology and how it influences both adults and adolescents. I really admired West for depicting the intricacies of family relationships and providing a look into the self-awareness of youth today.
A fun but also thought-provoking read–excellent!
I really enjoyed this book that I won in a giveaway on The Girlfriend Facebook page. I was immediately drawn into the story. It was a fun and engaging read.
Isobel Johnson teaches English at a public school in Liston, Minnesota. The majority of her students are from privileged homes with highly involved parents. The environment is competitive and focused on grades, auditions for plays, and applications to the top colleges. Isobel is liked by her students but becomes concerned when she receives an anonymous voicemail blasting her lectures as Anti-American and focused outside the curriculum. To make matters worse, social media is active within the Liston community spreading negative parent discussions regarding the faculty.
Julia Abbott’s main focus in her life is pushing her kids’ achievements. She is an active parent in her community with a heavy social calendar. Her volunteer efforts align with her kids’ activities and she uses this influence on teachers by donating money to secure better theater roles for her children. This lifestyle vanishes after an incident at school involving Julia and a student is recorded leaving her reputation in ruin.
This story examines parental interference and how it can have positive and negative consequences for children. I enjoyed the varying perspectives from Julia and Isobel’s and how they blend as the story progresses. Minor Dramas & Other Catastrophes is a debut novel by Kathleen West.
This book is so incredibly realistic I felt like I was right back in the parochial school system listening in on the parents’ and teachers’ conversations. It’s must read for anyone who has attended, had a child attend, or has taught at a private school and is painfully aware of the behind the scenes school politics.
Take one helicopter parent, one high-school play, one conniving co-worker and stir well—you’ve got the basic ingredients of MINOR DRAMAS AND OTHER CATASTROPHES, a smart, funny, entertaining debut by Kathleen West. My two daughters-in-law are both teachers, and this book totally nails both the joys and challenges of teaching and the impact of social media on students and parents. Told from multiple points of view, the reader gets the perspective of students, parents, teachers, and even the principal as the cascading drama unfolds. I laughed out loud, shook my head in dismay and thoroughly enjoyed reading every page.
Minor Dramas & Other Catastrophes should be required reading for all moms who have a child entering high school, to teach them how NOT to act. Kathleen West gives us a relatively accurate example of what a committed helicopter mom can accomplish when she embraces all things crazy and then immerses herself in her children’s lives. However, what gave this book balance and made it work was the different perspectives from multiple characters. West provides us not only with the parents’ and teachers’ perspectives but, most importantly, the students’ views.
This book had me shaking my head and laughing, but it also had me thinking, thinking about how sad it is that some parents need to control every aspect of their child’s life. This book is a mixed bag of tricks, funny in one sense. Still, it also delivers a serious message about bullying and gossip and how it truly hurts people.
The writing by Kathleen West is clear and concise, and the character development is near perfect. My reasoning behind the words near perfect, I felt that one character was a little too classic. So, for me, she was a bit too hard to relate to entirely and sympathize with her. I did enjoy the plotline and flow of the story. This book explores the challenges teachers in an elite public-school deal with not only from over-invested meddlesome parents but also from fellow teachers. They must also balance the explosive political climate that seeps into the classroom daily. But, that’s not all, there is plenty of backstabbing, gossip, posts went virial and even a secret Facebook page. Somehow, through all this nonsense, the shining stars in this book are the kids.
Minor Dramas delivers today’s relevant issues that teachers, parents, and teens must navigate in an easy to read, hilarious and entertaining fashion.
***I kindly received an ARC of this book by way of Edelweiss/publisher/author. I was not contacted, asked, or required to leave a review. I received no compensation, financial or otherwise. I have voluntarily read this book, and this review is my honest opinion.***
I don’t usually read this type of book but the description intrigued me. I was glad to read it, it took me a while, only because I was ill.
Once I started it I was hooked. Isobel Johnson is an admired and respected teacher at Liston Heights, Julia Abbott is a parent who hovers, definitely involved in her kids lives, especially her son who has been cast in a part in the annual play. Or she hopes.
Isobel received a voicemail accusing her of anti-American and a liberal agenda. Now Isobel needs to find out who the voicemail came from and she thinks she knows who it was. She can’t say for sure though.
So all of a sudden she is all over social media and not in a good way. She is eventually suspended from her job which is devastating to her, she loves to teach and that is why she wanted to work at Liston Heights.
Julia was so excited to find out if you son got the part she wanted for him, she pushed her way to the front of the line and accidentally elbowed a student. Someone made a video of it and it went viral, to her dismay.
I didn’t much care for Julia, she, in my mind was not a very nice person but as I got further in the book, she just wanted to be admired by her family and community. Both Julia and Isobel wanted that but in different ways, and they went about trying to meet their own expectations in a different way.
What did I come away with at the end of this book? I found that social media can be a good but sometimes a horrible thing, especially when people shame, ridicule and humiliate other people because they either don’t know that person or listen to rumors. Be nice people!
I enjoyed this book, there was a lot of humor, some nice and not so nice characters. But that is what makes a book good!
Helicopter parenting and high school politics at their worst — and funniest. A smart, fast-paced, and deliciously entertaining debut!
As intriguing as it is timely. West provides a funny and shocking glimpse into American parenting through the lens of an out-of-control stage mother who has lost all sense of boundaries.
Is it too early to refer to Minor Dramas and Other Catastrophes as the one of the best books of 2020? Sure, we’re a month away before the ball drops to ring in a new year, but this timely, cautionary tale from Kathleen West will have readers glued to their seats, book in hand.
Minor Dramas and Other Catastrophes releases February 4th from Berkley Publishing and it’s a book you don’t want to miss. With a high school backdrop, Minor Dramas opens early in the school year and is told from a variety of voices. No unreliable narratives causing problems here; a misunderstanding in one chapter is cleared up in the next. Sympathies change just as swiftly as we follow Isobel Johnson and Julia Abbott who are having the worst Autumn of their lives.
Isobel is a dedicated English teacher who’s popular with the students, but her fresh take on classic literature is a problem for many parents. Julia is one of “those” moms with a bigger problem after an overzealous attempt to see a cast list for the school’s next production ends with her in a video that goes viral.
I couldn’t turn the pages of Minor Dramas and Other Catastrophes fast enough. One page I’m outraged at Julia, whose interference in her children’s lives has embarrassed them, not to mention how it’s affecting her husband’s business. On the next page my heart is breaking for a woman who has given her life for her children. As a mother myself I could easily relate to Julia. Author Kathleen West nails that paradox of being a stay at home mom: Julia gives everything for her children but, in doing so, alienates them.
Isobel is the passionate teacher we all want for our children. Her father’s transgressions have left her with a determination to open the eyes of those on the cusp of adulthood to the world beyond their scope. Her more liberal teachings catch the attention of the more conservative parents and her refusal to adhere to the curriculum puts her in the sites of the school’s administration.
The use of social media drives the narrative in Minor Dramas and Other Catastrophes. West thrillingly advances the story, through both an incriminating video on a private Instagram account and the questionable behaviors of a parents’ group on Facebook. From chapter to chapter, West shows how innocently using social media can result in dire consequences as the entire world becomes privy to your thoughts and actions. More so, we see how quickly one can organize a bullying campaign that results in the loss of a job or worse. I found myself filled with anxiety as things steamrolled into situations that had the potential to be life changing.
What really stood out in this debut novel from West, for me, is the look into daily challenges women face as they struggle to be both mother/nurturer and an individual. Julia and Isobel both found themselves at a place in their lives where the lines had blurred and left each taking a look inward, especially as social media and school politics took ahold of their lives. I found myself tearing up when both women recognized, through all the scandal and heartache, that they were more than just a mother or teacher or even the child of a bad person. It was this, for both Julia and Isobel, that made Minor Dramas and Other Catastrophes really stand out. It took a well-written, clever, cautionary tale and made it a book of hope as well.
5 Stars. Thank you to Berkley Publishing for this advanced copy of Minor Dramas and Other Catastrophes.