Is this book based on anyone or any incident you have witnessed?
Actually, I see it all around me – Fairfield County seems has a lot of over scheduled kids, and everyone I describe the book to says the same thing: “Oh my God, it’s a huge problem!” My kids actually weren’t horribly over scheduled, I hope, but there was a time I was definitely driving them all over the place to sporting events. It was ridiculous.
What do you think is the most important part to take away from this book?
Nobody is a villain. Everybody is trying their best. The parents in the book are great people who love their son very much. It’s just a very blurry line between wanting your children to have every advantage in a competitive world, and making them do so much that they lose their ability to be children.
About the author:
Author Tommy Greenwald (and father of three boys) tackles the challenges of raising tweens in ‘Jack Strong Takes a Stand,’ which is about a teen who stages an on-couch sit-in (and school boycott) rather than let his parents subject him to any more unwanted activities.
Greenwald’s popular previous tween anti-hero, Charlie Joe Jackson, turned dodging reading into an art form. For more information, visit: www.tommygreenwald.com