That's Not A Feeling
Dan Josefson
2012
That's Not A Feeling takes place at the Roaring Orchards boarding school. Roaring Orchards is not a typical boarding school; the students are not typical, the adults are not typical, and the school's administrator certainly is not typical. Roaring Orchards is more of a therapeutic center for troubled teens, and the point of view of That's Not a Feeling is one of those teens.
Benjamin arrives at Roaring Orchards thinking that he's simply on a tour, but his parents have taken off. He soon realizes that there's something a bit off about the school. The teens in his group can be no further than an arm's length in one another, and there are unorthodox methods for dealing with events such as swearing or a teen running away. The point of view is mostly Benjamin's, but other characters are presented in detail, including other teens, teachers, "dorm parents", and the administration. Josefson does a masterful job of presenting this bizarre world by detailing the rules and routines to a very specific degree and creating a Roaring Orchards "vocabulary" that seemingly everyone spouts at one time or another. The characters are very well fleshed out, which makes some of the events at Roaring Orchards even more heartbreaking.
Rating: 1.50. Highly recommended reading- That's Not A Feeling is an exceptional first novel and a quick read.
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