Customer Reviews

Permission Slips

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I've now known Mr. Sander for 3 years and when reading this book felt like I had seen a whole new side of him. I was amazed at his talent in portraying the students he sees everyday. I will admit I was shocked at his ability to hold me as a reader and keep me interested. I think he has definitely found his talent; he is a writer at heart, and I can't wait till he puts out another book. And being a senior now I will have to drive back to the school to get it. This is a suggested read. Some teenagers may be offended or find the writing "fake" but it is the pure genius with which he captures the reality of student's lives and minds that may send people away. If you want to know the hysterics that are high school, I suggest to you (as a student still myself) read this book.

Realistic. Almost frightning.
If only the superintendent had her office across from the lunchroom.
Each character is easy to relate too. Each one is a real high schooler, with real high school problems: simple and complex, often both at the same time.

Changed the way I think about high school.

Permission Slips is a dark novel about the chaos of teen life, written by high school student assistance counselor and parent Jerry Sander. Permission Slips is not sanitized for one's emotional protection, like most novels about a ninth- grader lost in the chaos of high school are, and not intended expressly for young adults - which may be a moot point since far too many young people live in the world of meanness, uncontrolled sexuality, mindless conformity, and brutal demands to be cruel enough and dumb enough to fit in with the group. A dark, sometimes violent story of struggling to maintain a stable life, identity, and maybe even find love amidst the worst youth has to offer.

Permission Slip's breaks down the institution that has so often been stereotyped and presents it without the saccharine. Hadleyville High overlaps the chaos at both the adult and teen levels to recreate an atmosphere any reader will be sure to find strikingly real.
The greatest strength of the story is in its presentation of how one place- a typical American high school- unites characters that under any other circumstance would never interact, let alone share 7 hours a day under the same roof. Sander's ability to add a genuine depth to each character gives the reader a multi-angled perspective of a setting normally seen through only one pair of eyes. An all around must-read for anyone with an appreciation for unpasteurized truth.

I didn't know what to expect on buying this book and although there are many differences between the American education system and the Scottish education system, it's really not that different when it comes to a lot of the basic problems and challenges pupils and teachers face on a daily basis.

The striking honesty in some parts of the book certainly gives you something to think on and makes you realise that everyone is human and yet the antics and goings on between the students brings fun and humour in to balance it all out into what I thought was a thoroughly enjoyable read and I certainly look forwards to Jerry's next book.

Author Jerry Sander captures what it is like to be in high school, whether you are a student or faculty. His prose is often times almost too real..."Can I ask you something really personal?" asked Alison..."Do you get high?" and thus begins the conversation between Alison and Elijah, a new guy at school. Their relationship, just one of many in the book, is realistic, fresh and should set the standards for fiction on this level in the future.

Another conversation between Alison and Elijah begins..."I've never appreciated silence before," which seemed kind of ironic, being that shat she had just destroyed it. But she hadn't. Because the next silence was being born even as the sound of her voice died away..." And on it goes.

Elijah later tells someone else..."Drugs are for the unimaginative. I take my own adventures."

Sure, there is sex, violence, drugs and complicated relationships in "Permission Slips" but isn't that what life is really about? Wouldn't you rather read a book with substance than one that is all fluff? This book grabs you from the beginning and doesn't let go even when you're finished.