Love's Lessons to Laurel

It all started with a question . . .

Laurel Montgomery has questions about puberty that her single mother, an international business attorney, hesitates to answer. Matters deteriorate, when Laurel starts ninth grade and her mother joins President Nixon's negotiators, currently drafting agreements prior to a 1972 summit meeting with China. Laurel feels abandoned as she deals with school and peer pressure to fit in.

Iris Wimple, an elderly woman who's previously looked after Laurel, comes to stay until her mother returns. Iris is a wonderful woman, but Laurel has doubts about her ability to deal with personal teenage issues.

Invited to a dance by a handsome, unmotivated, boy, Laurel must begin to deal with adult feelings and the opposite sex. She turns to Iris, who answers her questions with candor. Laurel's trust increases and a mature bond forms. Two days later, Laurel's history teacher tells students that different religions have influenced today's world. Understanding society, means understanding different beliefs. Religious leaders attend class and explain their faiths. A single question assignment is given: How can each of these educated men see God differently?

Having no religious background, Laurel struggles for answers while Iris explains arguments concerning the existence of God. With help from Iris, Laurel demonstrates a powerful answer causing classmates to reexamine their beliefs about God. Shaken by their daughter's crisis of faith, a prominent family files a complaint, accusing teacher and student of mixing church and state. Both are suspended and face permanent discipline.

A national debate erupts. Supporters on both sides, descend on the tiny town awaiting the showdown. In front of the school board and a national audience, a teen's spiritual philosophy will battle treachery in a death spiral of amazing revelations. When the meeting adjourns, electrifying events leave the world redefining faith.

The passion of first love, learning common-sense wisdom, and the goodness existing in all of us are humorously entwined in Love's Lessons to Laurel.