Saving Miss Oliver's by Stephen Davenport

Saving Miss Oliver's -- "The prestigious New England boarding school, Miss Oliver's School for Girls, is on the cusp of going under. The trustees have just fired Marjorie Boyd, headmistress for the last thirty-five years, because she's derelict as a financial manager. But she is a brilliant educator, beloved of the alumnae and students, who are angry and rebellious and will hate her successor. Nevertheless, if her successor, Fred Kindler, can get the support of the legendary senior teacher, Francis Plummer, he has a fighting chance to save the school. But to Plummer, anyone who replaces Marjorie represents disaster. His wife, Peggy Plummer, the librarian, thinks differently. She understands why the board of trustees had to save the school from the flaws of the very woman who had made it so worth saving. As passsionately loyal to Kindler as Francis is to Marjorie, Peggy steps forward to help the new head, usurping her husband's position at the head's right hand. The school's survival, Fred Kindler's career, and the Plummer's marriage are now all at risk." (taken from the back cover of the book)

 

I went to a private all-girls high school that nearly closed due to financial reasons and also hired a less-than-desirable head of school to help keep things running, so a lot of the situations in this book are eerily familiar to me. I can understand the fears and conflicts of characters very well and I'm hoping the book has as good an ending as my own alma mater's troubles did :)

 

Saving Miss Oliver's -- Started: Mar. 1, 2010 Finished: Mar. 5, 2010

 

25 Book Challenge 2010 Book #19

Done