LDS Books: Waiting for the Light to Change

Sarah's had difficult years before - what high school teacher hasn't? - but this year is the worst. Although Sarah's managed as a single mother well enough, she's frequently exhausted and still angry at the curves life has thrown her way. Shepherding her painfully shy daughter, Jenny, through high school as well as the return of her ex-husband after a twelve-year absence shakes Sarah's fragile equilibrium. Additional trouble comes through the classroom door as Sarah winds up in a disastrous war with two senior boys who are determined to undermine Sarah and dominate her debate team.

Anger and revenge, joy and frustration, and ultimately consequences trap Sarah, her students, and her children as they all learn--through tragedy--that love isn't ownership and that only forgiveness can heal families.

With the backdrop of an American high school, this is a story for anyone who understands that growing up is a life long process, but it is also a story about the dedicated people who teach children. Annette Haws has a clear, steady voice as she opens a w indow into the troubled world of adolescent angst and the lives of teachers trying to see into that world.

Annette Haws has hit a homerun. Ms. Haws clearly understands the vast issues facing teachers as they deal with their own personal lives and the lives of their students. Parents of students will gain a greater insight into the dynamics of adolescent students, their peers, and their teachers in this novel of teenage traumas and adult dilemmas.

- Steven E. Dunn, Ed D.
Dean, School of Education, Newman University

This funny, realistic glimpse into an American high school captures the reader from the first pages. I kept picking it up to read "just a few more pages" realizing later that an hour had lapsed. But it's more than an engrossing plot, it's a story of a family struggling to heal, a story with a message that will touch everyone.

- Stacey Bess
Author of Nobody Don't Love Nobody, soon to be made into a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie

As I read about the faculty lounge, I could smell the some times invigorating and other times stultifying atmosphere that lived there. I came to really know Sarah, Meg, Tom, Tyler, Brax, Mr. Cottle, the Assistant Principal, and many others, because I already knew them. I see them every day. I believe that if the reader really wants to know what goes on within a high school community and come to treasure the devotion and dedication wonderful teachers give to their students, no matter how misguided the teachers' efforts and attempts at times might be, the book is worth reading. However, this is not a novel just about a high school, but about the pit and pratfalls a marvelous teacher encounters and experiences while living in a small community.

- Stuart Howell
Vice Principal, Logan High School

Sarah's story shows the hard work so many women face to get past the rage of abandonment to forgiving and moving on. I found myself cheering for the inner strength Sarah found, and then wanting to slap her for not letting go of the past. Read it. And you may see, as I did, what it takes to get a break in the clouds.

- Terrell Dougan
Co-author of This is the Place: A Guide to Salt Lake City