• 5 Star Reads
  • Audiobooks
  • Books on Screen
  • Children’s Books
  • Christian
  • Fiction
  • Giveaways

5 Minutes For Books

  • Home
  • About
    • Who Are We? Reviewer Bios
    • 5 Star Reads
    • Disclosure
    • Privacy Policy
    • About Us
  • Join In
    • 5 Minutes for Books Bookclub
    • Children’s Classics
    • Kids’ Picks
    • What’s on Your Nightstand
  • Link To Us
  • Contact
    • Advertise

The Question Authority

May 14, 2019 by Elizabeth

5M4B disclosure

It’s 2009. Nora Buchbinder, whose grandfather was a famous poet at a time when that equalled financial success as well, always assumed she’d be rich but instead finds herself broke after the death of her mother. She lives in the huge apartment where she grew up, now filled with a motley assortment of IKEA furniture and her cat, Tin Man, who has disappeared. She works at the Education Department as a sort of paralegal, when a work assignment on a teacher accused of sexual advancements towards a minor stirs up her past.

When Nora and her BFF Beth were in 8th grade at an all-girls Academy, they fell under the spell of one of their teachers, a red-haired hippie who wore a question authority button, listened to Navajo chants on Thanksgiving, and invited all the girls in his class to hang out at his house. There, they listened to his records, played with his kids, made cookies with his wife, and were one by one invited back to his enormous waterbed under its tie-dyed canopy. Beth felt herself to be truly in love, and never admitted to anything else. Nora resisted the spell, refused the cookies and invitations, and has defined herself for years by this decision.

It was 1971. Things were different then, right? The narrative is mostly Nora in either 2009 or 1971, but it is sometimes Naomi Rasmussun, their teacher’s wife, writing from beyond the grave, or emails sent by Rasmussan to the unknown “Peanut” about his attempts to visit his daughter and her husband, with whom he does not have a good relationship, and to not pick up on an underage waitress or young hitchhiker. Views from Nora and Beth’s other classmates, a retelling of a fatal “camping trip” and the story of Rasmussan’s son all fill in gaps in Nora’s viewpoint of the events of that fateful time.

The Question Authority is a fairly short book but it manages to pack in a surprising amount of character growth. Nora reconnects with Beth and finds herself questioning assumptions she’s carried for her entire life, and having to re-examine herself and her role. A timely book that deals with predatory adults, the teenagers they claim to love, and the results that last for a lifetime.

 

Purchase Links

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound

tlc logo.png

Filed Under: Elizabeth, Fiction

« Asma’s Indian Kitchen
Waisted »

Comments

  1. Sara says

    May 15, 2019 at 11:02 am

    I thought this was a really interesting book that would make for a unique book club pick for sure! Thanks for being on this tour- Sara @ TLC Book Tours

Connect with us

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Welcome to 5 Minutes for Books. We are a team blog dedicated to sharing reviews and information about children's lit, fiction, memoir, and more. Read More…

Reviews

5 Minutes for Books

Jennifer Donovan
Managing Editor

MEET OUR TEAM



Connect With Us


Pinterest

Community

Cybils Logo Draft 3

Disclosure:

Find out about our relationships with publishers and affiliate networks in our full disclosure statement.

Recent Posts

  • Afterward
  • The Busybody Book Club
  • My Favorite Memories
  • The Day Saida Arrived
  • Sunday

Categories

Privacy Policy    |     Disclosure Policy
Terms & Conditions
© 5 Minutes for Mom

Let’s Socialize

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Pinterest is Our FAVORITE!

Find and Follow Us at
pinterest.com/5min4books

Copyright © 2025 · Tasteful theme by Restored 316