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Jackson, Lucy.
Adult Fiction JACKSON
From Publishers' Weekly:
The pseudonymous Jackson (an "acclaimed short story writer and novelist") plumbs the lives of those who pace the halls at New York City's exclusive Griffin School in this accomplished novel. Varied in age and income bracket, the cast is finely drawn if familiar: Julianne Coopersmith, a middle-class teen with an overprotective mother, attends Griffin on scholarship; Morgan Goldfine, Julianne's best friend whose mother recently died, is awash in grief; Michael Avery, Julianne's boy wonder boyfriend, is Harvard bound; and Kathryn "Lazy" Hoffman, Griffin's headmistress, is having a professionally verboten affair with a teacher. Cracks form in Julianne and Michael's relationship after Michael shows signs of mental instability, though Julianne's loathe to give up on him, even when his symptoms hint at violent tendencies. Morgan mopes her way through the school year, and Julianne's mother strikes up an unlikely friendship with Michael's mother. Kathryn's affair, predictably, becomes public knowledge, sparking domestic and professional upheaval. If the plot packs few surprises, Jackson's rendering of relationships both toxic and positive, filial and friendly is flawlessly executed as she flits from social strata to social strata. The similarity in cover art between this novel and Prep isn't for nothing. (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
From Library Journal:
An exclusive New York school catering to the rich and powerful, who feel that their children's enrollment is one step toward an Ivy League college, Griffin is the sort of place that allows jaded staff and parents to transmit their troubles to teenagers; here, every drama is amplified. The beleaguered principal, Kathryn "Lazy" Hoffman, contends with school scandals, demanding parents, and her own illicit affair with an English teacher. Meanwhile, scholarship student Julianne is caught in a devastating relationship with her bipolar boyfriend, Michael, much to the dismay of Julianne's mother, Dee, a failed novelist who drives a taxi. Dee forms an unlikely bond with Michael's emotionally distant mother, who pays more attention to her dog, named Boyfriend, than to her own son. Jackson handles the relationship between Michael and his mother with honesty and sensitivity, but the story line seems at odds with the satirical tone of the chapters focusing on Lazy. In particular, a distasteful subplot involving a Saudi prince attending the school falls flat. Jackson is the pseudonym of a noted fiction writer; for larger public libraries.-Christine DeZelar-Tiedman, Univ. of Minnesota Libs., Minneapolis (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Jackson, Lucy.
Adult Fiction JACKSON
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From Publishers' Weekly:
The pseudonymous Jackson (an "acclaimed short story writer and novelist") plumbs the lives of those who pace the halls at New York City's exclusive Griffin School in this accomplished novel. Varied in age and income bracket, the cast is finely drawn if familiar: Julianne Coopersmith, a middle-class teen with an overprotective mother, attends Griffin on scholarship; Morgan Goldfine, Julianne's best friend whose mother recently died, is awash in grief; Michael Avery, Julianne's boy wonder boyfriend, is Harvard bound; and Kathryn "Lazy" Hoffman, Griffin's headmistress, is having a professionally verboten affair with a teacher. Cracks form in Julianne and Michael's relationship after Michael shows signs of mental instability, though Julianne's loathe to give up on him, even when his symptoms hint at violent tendencies. Morgan mopes her way through the school year, and Julianne's mother strikes up an unlikely friendship with Michael's mother. Kathryn's affair, predictably, becomes public knowledge, sparking domestic and professional upheaval. If the plot packs few surprises, Jackson's rendering of relationships both toxic and positive, filial and friendly is flawlessly executed as she flits from social strata to social strata. The similarity in cover art between this novel and Prep isn't for nothing. (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
From Library Journal:
An exclusive New York school catering to the rich and powerful, who feel that their children's enrollment is one step toward an Ivy League college, Griffin is the sort of place that allows jaded staff and parents to transmit their troubles to teenagers; here, every drama is amplified. The beleaguered principal, Kathryn "Lazy" Hoffman, contends with school scandals, demanding parents, and her own illicit affair with an English teacher. Meanwhile, scholarship student Julianne is caught in a devastating relationship with her bipolar boyfriend, Michael, much to the dismay of Julianne's mother, Dee, a failed novelist who drives a taxi. Dee forms an unlikely bond with Michael's emotionally distant mother, who pays more attention to her dog, named Boyfriend, than to her own son. Jackson handles the relationship between Michael and his mother with honesty and sensitivity, but the story line seems at odds with the satirical tone of the chapters focusing on Lazy. In particular, a distasteful subplot involving a Saudi prince attending the school falls flat. Jackson is the pseudonym of a noted fiction writer; for larger public libraries.-Christine DeZelar-Tiedman, Univ. of Minnesota Libs., Minneapolis (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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