This Business of Children

By ChloeJonPaul

Education & Textbooks

Family & Relationships

Parenting & Families

Language: English Not Rated (NR)

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No. of pages

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The four main characters are elementary school teachers whose personaland professional lives become significantly changed in a single academic year.

Vera is a middle-aged, dowdy but dedicated teacher who is ready forretirement. She has never been one to question established practices. She hasalways faithfully paid her union dues; preferring to let others take the leadin bettering the profession. What causes Vera to vent her anger during a Boardof Education meeting with a speech that brings the audience to its feet?

Dee is thirty-something – a sophisticated newcomer to the BlevinsDistrict school system. She arrives there with a history of political and unionactivism she’d sooner leave behind but somehow can’t. Reluctantly, she becomesa key player in the Blevins Teachers Association’s fight for change in an arenawhere change was thought to be impossible.

She is a sexy lover who admits to not knowing how to love with herheart. She does, however, possess extraordinary compassion for her students anda colleague whose secret she alone shares.

What makes Dee quit her job with such dramatic flair? Why does thisgifted teacher leave the job she loves to become a corporate trainer downSouth?

Next, there’s Mark who feels trapped in a marriage and a job which havelost their luster. He is the perennial job hunter who scours the Boston Globe’semployment ads week after week, vowing that his resume will eventually land hima position with prestige and more pay.

Mark becomes easy prey for Dee and succumbs to an illicit relationshiphe feels powerless to stop.

What compels Mark to turn down the perfect job offer when it finallycomes through? What makes him decide to stay?

Stu is easily one of the most popular teachers at school. Although heis the butt of Mark’s snide remarks at times, Stu is well liked by students,parents, and staff because he is such a caring teacher.

Stu is a closet homosexual who finally confides in Dee when his loverJeremy dies of AIDS.

Devastated by the earlier loss of his mother and now Jeremy, he findssolace in the tiny back room of his house where he keeps a magnificentcollection of antique lamps. That room takes on a special significance towardthe end of the story.

At a time when gay men across America are frantically queuing up to betested for the virus, Stu is resistant to the idea until Dee convinces him togo “for the sake of the children”.

What causes Stu’s untimely death if it isn’t AIDS? What causes nearrebellion among the staff against the school superintendent and the Board ofEducation after

Stu’s death?

If the questions raised here have sparked a curiosity, then perhaps afull dose of This Business of Childrenis the next logical step. Vera Harriss, Dee Fletcher, Mark Pettingill, and StuMartel are waiting to make your acquaintance.