The Chestnut Tree From Mathew Tekusky Getting To Know Gladys McKinley

This coming-of-age novel also follows in the tradition of TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD. The author is screen writer MATHEW TEKULSKY – who’s already adapted it into a screenplay.  In fact, The Chestnut Tree was recognized as a screenplay before becoming a novel. And it’s already earned widespread recognition - including Best Drama Feature Screenplay at the Silver Mask Live Festival, a Silver Award for Feature Script from the Paris Film Awards, Best Period Romance Feature Screenplay at the Marina del Rey Film Festival, and Official Selections at the London International Film Festival and Cinema New York City Film Festival. At the core of the book is 12-year-old Adam Jacobs and his classmate Sally Fletcher as they navigate first crushes, family expectations, and the latent religious and racial tensions within their seemingly calm suburban New York community. It captures boy on the threshold of adulthood, discovering that the world is more complicated-and more connected-than he ever imagined. When a sudden event brings Adam into Sally's family orbit, unexpected bonds begin to form, even as divisions linger just beneath the surface. At home and at school, Adam struggles to understand where he fits, and he takes refuge at the home of Gladys McKinley, a reclusive writer whose past holds its own quiet secrets. Told through the eyes of a child, this poignant novel explores how small acts of bravery can shake up a community’s certainties—and how the moral clarity of youth can challenge the prejudices of the adult world.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/arroe-collins-like-it-s-live--4113802/support.