If you’ve ever clashed with a principal or fretted about passing a motion at a PTO meeting, you’ll be able to relate to some of the challenges faced by Richard Gray, a work-at-home dad who becomes PTO president in Jonathan Grant’s novel, Chain Gang El-ementary.

But Richard has other big problems you probably haven’t faced: backstabbing school politics, a board member having a nervous breakdown, and a treasurer who is just a little too friendly.

The story revolves around Richard’s efforts to make changes at the elementary school and the resistance he meets from the dictator-like principal who seems to care only about standardized test results.

In addition to being an entertaining read, it tackles issues like school violence, racial discrimi-nation, and teaching to the test. This is the first novel by Grant, a former PTA president who describes himself as an elementary school survivor and a recovering high school parent.