The Chandler Legacies

The Chandler Legacies

YA fiction
Fall semester is about to begin at an elite private school,
Chandler. A lot more than physics and sports is going to go down
before the school year is over. Get ready to see some very dark
shadows in the abode of the priviliged when you pick up Abdi
Nazemian's The Chandler Legacies.
"Beth sighs. All she wants is to be one of these girls. Maybe
someday to date one of them. But they'll always see her as a day
student, even when she's a boarder. Because she's a townie. It's
like they can smell it on her."
Going into her sophomore year, Beth is an anomoly--a student
whose family resides in town who lives in the dorms. Her townie
parents hate her living there. Actually she often feels alone and
invisible. Her freshman roommate, Brunson had ostracized her.
"...Her dad is still paying off her mom's medical bills, and
even though Brunson has a lot of financial aid, this school is still
the most expensive thing they've undertaken that's not cancer..."
Brunson, also a sophomore, isn't the carefree teen Beth imagines
her to be. For much of her life she's had to care for her deathly ill
mother who is now in remission and much younger sister. She joins
every club and activity possible to keep her many unwanted emotions
from surfacing.
"Maybe it's true. Maybe it's why she wants to be an actress so
badly. To be immortal. But it's more than that..."
Spence (senior) is the only daughter of a white Chandler dad and
a supermodel of color mother. She wants to dedicate her life to
acting and writing. Who needs math or science? College doesn't
interest her unless it's Juilliard.
"Ramin feels his heart sink a little at the mention of his dad.
He's always looked up to his father, who never failed to take care of
his family in an unstable country. But Ramin wonders if he is
secretly happy that his only child moved all the way to America. At
least now his dad won't be faced with the source of their family's
shame anymore."
It's not just shame. Try fear for his life Being gay is very
dangerous in Iran. Starting over solo in a very different country is
not the only reason Ramin fears that he'll never fit in. He's a
senior moving into a school setting in which the cliques are probably
set in stone.
"...Not that Charles even knows that Freddy likes both guys and
girls, but that he doesn't date anyone because he promised his parents
he would stay focussed on his schoolwork and training. The last time
he screwed up a competition, it was because his heart was recently
broken. That can't happen again."
Senior Freddy is an extremely gifted pole vaulter, on track to
compete in the Olympics. His ambition has reshaped his parents'
lives. It's been the focus of his since childhood. But he's suddenly
wondering if he's leading the life he really wants.
These five very diverse high school students have become this
year's Circle. This writing group is really prestigious. There is
rigorous competition to be admitted. In addition to being dedicated
to improving their abilities by daily practice, they are expected to
bond and gain the trust needed to reveal secrets.
They are going to discover that their school hides some very
dark secrets.
Nazemian based The Chandler Legacies on his personal life
experiences. During his freshman year he experienced serious hazing.
It effected him so much he was sent to counseling. Sure that his
experience was unique, he never revealed the source of his anguish.
Almost twenty years after graduation he received an email from
his alma mater. A fifty page attachment revealed a long history of
sexual abuse of students. Accusations against twelve teachers had
been swept under the rug or solved by sending them elsewhere with
glowing recommendations. He realized that his school was just one
player in a wide range of institutions contributing to the acceptance
of the unacceptable.
"The statistics about sexual abuse and hazing are
heartbreaking. One in nine girls, and one in fifty-three boys,
experience sexual abuse by the age of eighteen at the hands of an
adult. Almost half of all students coming to college have already
been hazed. Students who are bullied are between 2-9 percent more
likely to attempt suicide. These problems are pervasive and are all
around us."
Trigger warning: today's personal note is about underage sexual
molestation. If you would find it too unsettling please feel free to
stop reading this review or skip down to the shout out.
On a personal note, I was one of the one in nine. I was fifteen. We
were having swimming for gym class. The married (ring wearing)
teacher told me to stay in the pool as my classmates ran off to
shower. Only when we were the only ones in the water he was touching
me under my bathing suit in a very unteacherly way. He told me to
tell nobody. This was to be our little secret. I didn't feel guilt
or shame or wonder what about me attracted him because what he had
done was a crime. So the next morning I tried to report him only to
be called a vicious little liar who was trying to ruin a good man's
reputation. At that point I was just beginning to show signs of
development. The behavior of my male peers had made me start to feel
like the onset of puberty was making me a target. The behavior of
adults who should have known better taught me that I wasn't safe
around males and I wouldn't be believed if I made a perfectly valid
accusation. The only way to be safe was to not develop. For decades--
I repeat decades--I went through periods of extreme calorie limiting
to prevent normal development in order to feel safe. It bothers me
that we're still too willing, as a society, to give the one with the
power the benefit of the doubt.
Where I was denied the chance to get justice for myself and others who
had experienced this teacher's violation and protect future victims I
was denied the chance to make this experience meaningful, to be the
hero, rather than the victim in my life story.
I have shared this episode in detail in the hope that it will
reinforce the message of the book. Kids should never be hurt in the
places that are supposed to be about protecting and nurturing them.
A great big shout out goes out to Dr. Elizabeth Allan who is one of
the faculty members in my program. Her research is focussed on
showing how damaging hazing is to the students who experience and
witness it. I have so much respect for her commitment to using the
resources at her command to helping end this terrible practice. She
really inspires me to stick with my goal of doing research on the very
real and unfortunately fast growing crisis of campus food insecurity.
Jules Hathaway




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