I was offered this book and accepted but it’s not something I would’ve normally chosen for myself. I found the premise to be interesting enough but I really did not enjoy the characters.

I was invited to read this book prior to publication by the publisher. I thought the premise of this book sounded really interesting, and in fact it was a pretty delightful read! I really liked the deep dive into the various teachers and leadership at school, learning about their backgrounds, ambitions and dreams versus what they wound up doing. There was a ton of variety in the characters, but not to the point it was overwhelming or hard to keep track of - this was all woven together wonderfully. A rather thorough background look and different perspective of being in education.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

While walking a High School hallway have you ever wondered how connected your teachers are? Who’s dating who…. Who’s been there the longest and well frankly who died in the teachers lounge that set the ball rolling on spreading his ashes on school property and the president of the PTO to cause a school drama like no other? Well if you have … then this is your book.
I laughed out loud at so many key points of this book, but also was brought to sadness at the trials and tribulations that plagued teachers throughout history. This book helps you to understand the background of those people that helped mold your life.

I loved this book, and I am so happy that I was able to read an advance copy of it. Although I am not an educator, I found it totally relatable and entertaining. It was a perfect mix of humor and drama, and an overall feel-good book. It is a fast and easy read. I enjoyed getting to know the eclectic cast of characters through their individual stories. I highly recommend this book to all readers, and I look forward to reading more from the author.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Faculty Lounge was a really great book! I would recommend this to anyone who has ever taught or worked in a school. This book is definitely heartfelt and sweet and definitely an easy comfort read.

The Faculty Lounge by Jennifer Mathieu
This is a story about several employees at Baldwin High School in Texas. The year begins with an elderly substitute teacher, who was a former faculty member, dying in the teachers’ lounge. Several weeks later it’s discovered that he wished to have his ashes strewn in the front courtyard of the school. The ceremony, thanks to a gust of wind, turns into a fiasco involving the president of the PTO.
I found this to be a warm, touching and frequently humorous story about the lives of the staff members and their interactions. As a former teacher, I felt that the author perfectly touched on what is important in education and what the problems are. She also created a wonderful cast of characters that I was sad to stop reading about.
This is a definite “feel good” read and I would like to thank #NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read an advanced copy.

A look at the break room for faculty. “The inside scoop.” It also clearly shows how isolated teachers can be, in their own rooms with their own plans. It was nice when you see reactions about observing others teaching not the norm in real life. Nice inside look at teachers and the break room.

I couldn't put this book down. A humorous, but oh so true, look into the world of teachers in public schools. At times laugh out loud funny and heart wrenching at the same time, Dealing with not only students, but parents and school district heads, the story demonstrates the challenges, the realities and the benefits in the life of a teacher.

The Faculty Lounge is a novel that anyone who has worked in education will appreciate. Each chapter is a small story focused on a member of the high school faculty. I really like the way the author organized this novel, she made it easy to read and understand, despite having so many different characters. I found the stories to be realistic; sometimes sad situations, but also, sometimes happy. And OF COURSE you’ll get a little bit of crazy parent drama. Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for my ARC in exchange for my review

This may the first time ever that I need to stop and take notes while writing a review. I have been a public school teacher for 18 years and there are some parts of this that just hit so so close to home. The book opens with a substitute teacher dying in the faculty lounge but notes that he was kind enough to do it on his prep period so as not to inconvenience anyone or require coverage. If that doesn't sum up teaching I don't know what does.

Other notable moments:
Mentioning the "Read" posters with celebrities no one still recognizes
How a lockdown is just par for the course with the new generations
The one teacher who always jams the copy machine and then leaves

"Ms. Jackson had often wondered if hedge fund managers and attorneys sat around in meetings being asked to draw a colorful picture that represented the group’s consensus or to post clarifying follow-up questions on a piece of chart paper labeled a “parking lot,” so that these things could be considered later. It was demeaning."

Having to listen to a higher up who had been in the classroom for 3 whole years and who made everyone share a fun fact about themselves.

OMG a KWL chart about the death of a colleague

Maybe best of all, accidentally sending the email to the parent is SO relatable. Not that I have ever done anything like that :/

I would highly recommend this book to anyone in the educational field.

I was a teacher and a school librarian so it’s pretty much a given that this book would resonate with me. It was written about a fictional Texas high school and the various people who worked there. There are new teachers, older teachers, a substitute teacher, a custodian, and many more essential staff members, each with their own chapter. The situations portrayed are very current and very real. Some made me laugh and some made me cry. I will be recommended this book widely.

When I first started reading “The Faculty Lounge” by Jennifer Mathieu, I thought I was going to be reading a cozy mystery of sorts. Because after all, the book opens when a beloved teacher who had retired years earlier but had returned as a substitute to Baldwin High School, is discovered dead in the faculty lounge. But it’s not a mystery at all, but a wonderful fictitious year-long ethnography of a high school in the post-pandemic era. Readers are introduced to various characters who make a school a school, and we learn about the personal and professional struggles they have. This is all wrapped together with compelling story telling and witty dialogue. I loved each and one of these characters. I salute the teachers in this book and to all those real-life teachers who make a daily difference to so many people.

I am certain that anyone who has been a teacher in the United States, who has attended schools in the United States, or who has children in the school system there, would love to read this book. Many thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an ARC of this amazing book. A strong five stars!

I'm a huge fan of the TV show Abbott Elementary and felt like this would be similar, but in book form. It sort of was in that it revolved around educators and their experiences. While I am not an educator myself, I did learn a lot about their jobs and also gained a new appreciation for people in this field. I think the star of the show really is the characters as we got so many POV's and none felt lacking.


Thank you, NetGalley, the author and the publisher for this arc in exchange for a fair and honest review!

I so loved The Faculty Lounge! It's such a sweet story of one year in the life of Baldwin High School in Houston, Texas. A substitute teacher has passed away in the Faculty Lounge and the whole book revolves indirectly around this teacher. We get to know and love several of the teachers and faculty members of Baldwin, and they how their lives are intertwined, The story is incredibly well written and compelling. I loved every character, and have left the book in awe of teachers and how they influence students and others for the better. Thank you to Jennifer Mathieu for this book - I'm sure it could be made into an incredible movie!!

Thanks, too, to NetGalley for allowing me to read and review The Faculty Lounge.

The Faculty Lounge is set in Baldwin High School a public High School in Texas. After a former teacher and now long-term substitute dies in the faculty lounge, the story explores the lives of the teachers, administrators, and staff during the turbulent year. First, the story focuses on the adults. There is little to no student included and I loved how this story is about the staff's experiences. Although I have never been a teacher I can't help but feel like teachers who read this story will feel seen. The book moves throughout the year moving from one person to the next, focusing on their story. However, all the individual situations are pulled together by the thread of the death that occurred at the beginning of the year. I felt the author touched on a wide and diverse array of those who work at the school including the janitorial staff.
I truly enjoyed this book which is in turn funny and reflective.

Thank you, NetGalley and Dutton for this enjoyable story!

This was an amazing read! It was heartwarming, endearing, funny and frustrating. I haven't been in school for a long time and was never an educator but I feel this gave a slight insight into the lives of teachers and other faculty, regardless. I would suggest anyone who's had any experience with school read this and get a glimpse behind the school curtain in the personal and professional lives of school administrators as it was clear from the writing that Jennifer Mathieu has a lot of experience in this that she's drawn on, creating a very real piece of fiction.

Oh my goodness, anyone who has ever worked in public education should run to pick up this book! The Faculty Lounge is an utterly engrossing, realistic, entertaining story that takes the reader through one full school year at a Texas high school. I imagine it is not easy for an author to write from so many different POVs, but she did a phenomenal job of creating each character's voice. Each one is unique and complex and brings a slightly different perspective on the life of someone who works in a school.

I love that the book includes perspectives from not only classroom teachers, but principals, counselors, and custodians as well. I could empathize with the characters and found myself completely blown away by the accuracy of the school situations that occur in the plot. Set in motion by the elderly substitute's death in the faculty lounge, the story takes us through many ripple effects that follow, along with plenty of juicy backstory on the parts of educators' lives we might not always see.

As a former teacher, I found this to be a story I didn't want to end--even though it wraps up with a beautifully satisfying conclusion. The author's respect for teachers and the many school staff and faculty members who make education possible comes across. I loved this so much, and I wish there were dozens more novels like this one!

Jennifer Matthieu's 'The Faculty Lounge' presents a compelling narrative that immerses readers in the intricate dynamics of academia. Through vivid storytelling, Matthieu skillfully navigates themes of ambition, betrayal, and redemption, offering a thought-provoking exploration of the human experience within the ivory tower.

While the novel excels in its portrayal of the pressures and power struggles inherent in academic life, it occasionally falters in character development and pacing.

Nevertheless, Matthieu's keen insights and engaging prose ensure that 'The Faculty Lounge' remains an insightful and engaging read, bound to captivate those intrigued by the complexities of university culture.

What to say about The Faculty Lounge? Jennifer Mathieu is clearly a veteran teacher-turned author.
Every. Single. Chapter. They rang true. Some a bit too close to my own experiences to be honest.

Jennifer does more than tell a tale of disgruntled teachers - she builds an entire community around an event, a sudden death. Using flashbacks and linked stories we meet the multitude of staff that make up a high school that you are not soon to forget.

Each chapter focuses on one of the staff and Mathieu skillfully peels back the protective layers to reveal the character's secret hopes and past experiences. Each chapter is truly a work of art !

The chapters link together providing a story of a community. The school that she has created is much like the one your children attend (or maybe you even work there!) This story -it's insightful, it's beautiful, it's sad and it's hopeful. It's a true work of art for all of the teachers, the parents and the students out there!

The Faculty Lounge by Jennifer Matthieu coming out July 23 provides a look into the lives of teachers, administrators, and staff who work at Baldwin High School in Houston, Texas. Basically a series of short stories told over a school year, this contemporary fiction illustrates the problems in public schools today: from book banning to high stakes, poorly written standardized tests to practice lockdowns to lack of administrative support from the Central Office to helicopter parents to overworked and underpaid teachers.

The school year starts with the story of a beloved retired teacher who has returned to Baldwin to substitute teach only to pass away while stretched out on the couch in the faculty lounge. When Principal Kendricks complies with Mr. Lehrer’s request to have his ashes spread in the courtyard of the school per his will, he comes under fire when the impromptu scattering is witnessed by some busybody parents, one of whom gets covered with ash when the wind blows. The staff taking part in the ceremony soon find themselves in mandated trauma counseling. The principal will be fighting to keep his job before the year is over.

The youngest teacher on campus starts her year by finding Mr. Lehrer’s body. An English teacher recalls it was Mr. Lehrer who offered her encouragement in her first year of teaching, always said to be the hardest year. She tells the younger teacher, “There are some days when all you can do is just make it until the last bell.”

A veteran English teacher misfires an email response to a parent challenging his use of a book that she accuses of being an example of Critical Race Theory, with the end result that the book is pulled from all the English classes, and the teacher has a reprimand added to his permanent record. The school nurse deals with all sorts of maladies but her heart goes out to those who suspect pregnancy, and to that end, she buys test kits with her own money for them.

A biology teacher questions his career choice, especially when he is trapped in the book room when an unscheduled lockdown is issued. An assistant principal finds herself coping with the death of her spouse by self-medicating to deal with all the problems that pop up in each school day. These are just a few of the stories in the course of a school year at Baldwin High School.

Jennifer Matthieu is a high school English teacher and writer. Her young adult novel Moxie was adapted into a Netflix film directed by Amy Poehler. The Faculty Lounge is her first adult novel. She lives in Texas with her family.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting April 21, 2024.

I would like to thank Dutton, an imprint of Penguin Random House, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.