Back To School Fiction

It's that time of year - the days are getting shorter, the nights are cooling off, and the aisles at Target are jammed with kids and their parents looking for just the right Trapper Keeper.  So why don't you kick back and read a book or two set in the world of academia, and maybe relive some of your own school experiences.  Here are a few titles to get you started.

Penelope by Rebecca Harrington.

Misfit freshman Penelope is overwhelmed by the competitiveness of Harvard University's environment, a situation that is complicated by her crush on an upper classman and her participation in an absurdist production of Caligula.


Truth and Consequences by Alison Lurie.
University director Jane Mackenzie is dismayed when her injured husband falls for Delia, a beautiful writer who has recently joined the center's staff, a situation that is complicated when Jane develops feelings for Delia's husband.


Back In the Game by Charles Holdefer.
Schoolteacher Stanley Mercer relocates to a small town expecting a quiet country life, but he soon becomes involved with the mother of one of his pupils and develops an interest in the struggles of two special education students.

Rookery Blues by Jon Hassler.
In 1969, faculty members at Rookery State College form a jazz quintet, and the lives of those in the group reflect the trials of the times including the Vietnam War and campus problems.

Fall by Colin McAdam.
Story of two roommates and what happens when the girlfriend of one of them goes missing.

A Good School by Richard Yates.
Set in a New England boarding school as America prepares to enter into World War II, an elegant and witty novel follows three unforgettable characters--William Grove, the quiet editor of the school newspaper, Jack Draper, a crippled chemistry teacher, and Edith Stone, the schoolmaster's young daughter.

High Marks For Murder by Rebecca Kent.
When teacher Kathleen Duncan turns up dead in the school garden, the victim of a purported accident, Meredith Llewellyn, headmistress of Bellehaven House, a sophisticated finishing school for girls, turns sleuth to uncover the link between the flowers in the garden and murder.