The Friendship Test

The Friendship TestInspired by the novel 'Of Mice and Men', a new teacher Poppy McCallum devises a friendship test with her class, 9Y to help them understand what friends are and how they behave. She makes a bargain with her pupils: if they work well in her lessons she'll tell them about her own personal quest for love and friendship. Gradually her private and professional lives become seriously entangled. She is encouraged by the kids, unwisely sharing her experiences

Inspired by the novel 'Of Mice and Men', a new teacher Poppy McCallum devises a friendship test with her class, 9Y to help them understand what friends are and how they behave. She makes a bargain with her pupils: if they work well in her lessons she'll tell them about her own personal quest for love and friendship. Gradually her private and professional lives become seriously entangled. She is encouraged by the kids, unwisely sharing her experiences with them. She is bewildered by the spider's web of staffroom politics, ensnared by lesbians and betrayed by her own headstrong wilfulness. When she hatches an outrageous scheme it begins to look as if her career will end in disaster.
This is a coming of age novel, set in contemporary London. The pupils and Poppy herself mature during the course of the term's adventures. She and they find friends, and as their eyes open to reality they realise that friends come in many guises.