The Prize
 Marilyn La Court
 (Reviewer - Kate Holmes)
 2002 American Book Publishing
  ISBN: 1589820665
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A Novel About Bullies and Victims and What Drives Them.

Sydney Schuster was an easy target growing up; the bullies beat him up every day. Now he's a millionaire with bullies for sons. He was willing to accept that fate (albeit with bitterness), but an opportunity arises. Syd's former tormentor, now a priest, hits him up for money to save his school. Sydney hits back with an offer the priest cannot refuse.

Associate Reviewer Kate Holmes writes:

The Prize is a phoenix that rises from the ashes of the Columbine tragedy in 1999. Marilyn LaCourt states as much in her preface when she tells of a Bully Prevention Program developed & piloted at Kosciuszko Middle School in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Perhaps this is why the realism in her book is astonishing when Marylin LaCourt writes the characters & the interactions of ten troubled youngsters as well as the first bully, his victim, & their subsequent association.

In 1951, Sydney Schuster, the son of a rich & powerful man, is a victim of the bully John Murphy, a boy from much less privilege. This unfortunate relationship culminates in the hospitalization of a badly beaten Sydney. 40 years later, Sydney, a wealthy businessman, is approached by his old adversary who now wears a clerical collar, & begs for financial help in keeping his school from closing. Sydney, however, is not that easily won. He has ideas & this is his opportunity.

He convinces both Father John Murphy, who appears to be completely changed from the boy who Sydney once knew, to provide him with the school for a period of one year. Furthermore, the two become partners in an experiment that will change both men forever.

Chosen randomly by friend, Denise Hanover, a teacher who's career is becoming increasingly discouraging, ten adolescents from a school known for its “troubled teens” are given the opportunity to win half a million dollars apiece. All they have to do is to attend this school, live in residence, & learn to solve their problems while living according to certain rules. For these five boys & five girls, working together & co-existing will be all but impossible...ah! But does the prize of half a million dollars make this idea any more plausible?

By the time Sydney, John, Denise, & the kids get to the end of this unorthodox school year, will the kids have been able to follow the rules? No! However, Sydney is no less than astonished at the way these teens do respond, making havoc of his carefully planned experiment, yet presenting him with their own program.

Anyone interested in this most invasive problem in our school system will enjoy this novel. I personally, couldn't put The Prize down. Sydney had me hooked with his initial question, “If the fit between people can spiral them down into the destruction of both, why can't it work the other way around?”

This compelling & believable story is one of joy, sorrow, hope, despair, subjects well known to Marilyn LaCourt, a marriage & family therapist, a columnist for a community newspaper, & a director of Communication Programs in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Find out more about Marilyn LaCourt's Bully Prevention Program & offers for free books to teachers, counselors, librarians & social workers to consider participating in a program to promote cooperation & literacy in our schools at: http://www.lacourt-m.com
(04/13/03)

Kate Holmes
2003©Kate Holmes
A RebeccasReads.Com Associate Reviewer

Reviewer's Bio
She is a Canadian wife, mother, grandmother, & avid reader. She has hungered for knowledge her whole life which has led her to haunt her local library & used book stores, looking for “old friends.” She has several bookshelves over which presides a print of Amergin, an ancient wizard from Celtic myth.

A welcome addition to her study, Della, her computer (named for its maker), has become a large part of her world. For some time Kate Holmes reviewed for another ezine, & as a means of giving herself a more varied reading experience, has joined RebeccasReads as a Associate Reviewer.