Surviving Chadwick: A Novel [Paperback]

Phillip Wilhite (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 30, 2009

California, 1973. After being awarded a scholarship to attend an elite boarding school in Ojai, California, fifteen-year-old Isaiah Issacson is plucked from his inner-city Oakland neighborhood and thrust into a new-and frightening-atmosphere. But Isaiah doesn't embrace this new life. Most of the students at Chadwick are rich, spoiled, and white. Unfortunately, his parents, Southern-born and part of the 1950s exodus by African-Americans to the west coast, view Isaiah's scholarship as an opportunity to fulfill Martin Luther King's dreams of racial and educational equality. Too bad Isaiah doesn't see it that way. Coming from a drastically different background, Isaiah has a difficult time relating to any of the students, and he soon clashes with instructors and fellow classmates. The search for his identity and how he fits in with this elite group soon begins to wear on him. After he meets the beautiful and intelligent Jenaye Gardner and begins a promising love affair, things begin to spiral more out of control. Now, Isaiah has only one goal in mind: to get kicked out of the most elite boarding school in California. A brilliant coming-of-age novel, Surviving Chadwick reveals one teenager's inner struggle to forge his identity in a new and challenging world.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Phillip Wilhite has written prep sports articles for the Oakland Tribune, freelance news stories for the Philadelphia Inquirer, and book reviews for the Philadelphia Tribune. He lives in Oakland, California.

Product Details

• Paperback: 232 pages
• Publisher: iUniverse (April 30, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0595520944
• ISBN-13: 978-0595520947
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,683,759 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Growing Up Is So Very Hard To Do, July 23, 2009

By 

Beverly Jackson "avid reader" (Huntersville, NC) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Surviving Chadwick: A Novel (Paperback)

In Surviving Chadwick by Phillip Wilhite, I was captured from the first chapter by the male narrator, Isaiah Issacson. As the story opens, Isaiah has received the usual school brochure asking for a donation. He is about to throw the brochure in the trash, when a note falls from between the pages. It is from Jenaye, his only connection to Chadwick, with a request for him to attend a school reunion. Daydreaming, he decides to attend and pulls out a briefcase from under his bed to reflect on his journey to adulthood and Jenaye's letter. I too wanted to be taken on the journey to find out about his connection to Jenaye and to a place that he held at bay but was never far from his mind. This is a mesmerizing story reflecting on events that Isaiah thought were not important at the time they happened, but in reality were a major turning point in determining the adult he is today.

The author takes us back to 1973, when 15 year-old Isaiah is awarded a scholarship to Chadwick, an elite boarding school. His parents, who migrated from the South for a better life, see this as a wonderful opportunity and opening a door for their son as they believed the Civil Rights dreams. Isaiah is not quite sure what the all this means, as he is leaving behind all that he is comfortable with; horning his basketball skills at a high school known as a stepping stone to the NBA, joining the black power movement, and his best friend Tee, who helps Isaiah navigate the Oakland urban culture. So allaying his fears, and knowing he can go home again, Isaiah takes his swagger to Chadwick and comes face-to-face with an elitist culture that he has no knowledge of. How will he survive in this environment and does he even care if he survives?

I enjoyed this coming-of-age story as Isaiah figures out who he is and what this world means to him. While Isaiah has the usual teenage concerns, a first love, learning how to take the best from his parents and mold it to his dreams, learning how to handle change, and learning which battles are worth fighting, the presentation will have you reminiscing of your teenage experiences. I thought that the approach and pace of the storyline gave it a fresh feel and lives beyond the year 1973 presented in the story.

I recommend this book to both teenagers and those beyond their teenage years as this is a well-written story that will engage all readers. I recommend that this book be included in public library and school library collections.

Reviewed by Beverly

APOOO BookClub

July 21, 2009

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Page Turner!, July 1, 2009

By 

Rozybabe "Roz" (Berkeley, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Surviving Chadwick: A Novel (Paperback)

Surviving Chadwick was an exciting page turner. I was on the edge of my seat, turning the pages, just waiting to see what Isaiah was going to get into next. I read the entire book in a couple of days. Isaiah is Afro-American kid from Oakland trying to fit in, into his all white, rich boarding school setting. He gets into trouble, but he learns life lessons. This is a must read for the young and old alike.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A 15 Year Old Boy Faces Tough Decisions, September 18, 2010

By 

Stuart Sweetow "sweetow" (Oakland, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Surviving Chadwick: A Novel (Paperback)

This "coming-of-age" novel chronicles the adventures of a precocious 15 year old from Oakland suddenly thrust into the "high society" culture of an exclusive prep school. Isaiah is torn between his Mississippi-bred parents' dreams for his success and his own need to be with his peers. In addition to being a high-performing academic, he is an accomplished basketball player who has left his teammates back in Oakland.

Wilhite has a skilled hand in describing with colorful detail the settings that Isaiah finds himself in. We readers become Isaiah as we feel the tension of a one-to-one meeting with Chadwick's headmaster, the intense anger after being ratted out by Isaiah's roommate and the embarrassment of Isaiah's mother's punishment as his classmates look on. Wilhite includes a gut-wrenching scene where Isaiah is told to read a passage from Huckleberry Finn, in front of snickering white kids.

Isaiah is torn himself with having to make a decision whether or not to stay at Chadwick. He is the star basketball player at Chadwick, and during his tenure, the all-boys' school experiments with admitting girls. One of the girls, he coincidentally had developed a crush on prior to coming to Chadwick.

Wilhite has a way with words: through his descriptions, the reader smells the whiff of fresh air, we see the lush southern California campus, we cry with Isaiah when he learns of a friend's demise. Wilhite has written a novel that would easily translate into a screenplay, and I hope he has an opportunity to project this story onto the big screen. In the meantime I eagerly await his next book.