The School for Good Mothers
What if your “very bad day” suddenly became your worst nightmare? Frida’s drive to get a coffee and a few papers at the office ended up being a 2-hour excursion, which wouldn’t have been such a big deal, but she left her toddler at home, alone. Luckily, her daughter was okay but Frida was turned into authorities. For her irresponsible behavior, she must now face the consequences.
Welcome to The School for Good Mothers, a new rehabilitation program for mothers, who need help to become better mothers. There are many reasons why the mothers that attend this school have been listed on the roster. When Frida joins the ranks, she finds herself amongst a variety of different women which makes this story very interesting and intense at times. During their time at the facilities, the mothers are given rules which they must abide by or they will pay the consequences. The mothers are also given a variety of different tests which will be graded. They need to pass them or they will have to pay the consequences. These mothers will be pushed physically and mentally and the tension will run high as these mothers strive to succeed and prove to themselves and others just who they are. Frida’s 2-hour excursion cost her a year in this facility but the physical and mental cost will go beyond that time period.
I loved this book, I seriously did. I can’t stop thinking about it and I talk to everyone about it. I loved how all the genes of the book came together and I enjoyed how this book made me think. As I read, I kept thinking about how wrong the idea of this school was, yet I thought perhaps we should have schools like this for other criminal offenses. I also thought who were the people who ran these schools and put these individuals there? Do they make the rules based on personal decisions or is there a standard that everyone must abide by? There is so much going on in this book, from the father’s program, the phone privileges, the relationships, the evaluations, every part of this story and its characters, I enjoyed so much. Getting close to the end, the tears were falling down my face; I didn’t want this story to end but I wanted to know how it was going to end. This book was exactly what I needed and I really enjoyed it.
“You can’t just have the cow jump over the moon, Frida. You need to have the cow consider his place in society. If you’re telling the Red Riding Hood story, you need to talk about the kinds of woods, the kind of food in her basket.” ………” How was Little Red feeling as she made her journey in the woods? Ask those open-ended questions. Get the children thinking. You’re teaching her about being a girl.”
“Everyday, she’ll learn about girlhood from you.”
