Jake

For ages 12+. Jake takes place during one of the single most powerfully shaping times in a person’s life – secondary education. Through the metaphor of the utopian and fictitious St Stephen’s Episcopal School, author Arch Montgomery shows us how our humanity can only be fully realised through other humans. The book depicts three deaths and one near-fatal disease while simultaneously tracking the rebirth of Jake, the titular and main character. He moves from a transparent ‘only-good-as-I-have-to-be’ mentality to a lifestyle of excellence and three-dimensionality with the help of his school, which is personified through the characters of Mary White, rector; George Meader, teacher; and Joel Kohn, student. On a continuum of education quality – satisfactory, good, great, excellent, ideal – where does St. Stephen’s fall? Where does the school you went to, or your children go to, fall? These and many other questions arise in Jake, and beg to be discussed, because once problems are recognised, they can begin to get solved.