Lee Gjertsen Malone is the author of The Last Boy at St. Edith's. From her Q&A with Deborah Kalb:Q: How did you come up with the idea for The Last Boy at St. Edith's?--Marshal Zeringue
A: Oddly enough, I got the idea from a newsletter from my husband’s old high school. He went to a Catholic school that went coed a few years after he graduated, and we still get mail from them.
This newsletter was talking about all the positive changes that had happened since the school added girls – new sports teams, increased applications – but it got me thinking.
Why would a school go coed? And (because this is where my mind goes) what if it didn’t work out? What if instead of every year there were more and more kids of your gender, there were fewer and fewer, until you were the last one?
Q: What do you think the book says about gender dynamics, particularly among middle-school-aged kids?
A: This became one of the most intriguing aspects of the book as I was writing it. I started it with a simple premise – the only boy at an all girl’s school who wants to get expelled – and it brought up so many great ideas.
For me, the best part was being able to...[read on]