Stienboek, a new novel by Dan Powers, highlights the winner-loser nature of change. It captures the deeply divisive effects on Wisconsin's teachers and public schools caused by the educational, political, and economic upheavals leading up to the 2011-12 school year. The story entwines the lives and personal struggles of four characters at Stienboek High School - part of the Edenton Area School District in Northeast Wisconsin's Fox River Valley. Against the volatile backdrop of the larger school and community conflicts, each struggles to understand themselves and each other.
Principal Ryan Davvis, a native of Minneapolis, is in only his second year at the helm of rural John Stienboek High School where his troubled and deceased wife, Lisa, had left an unsettling legacy. Ryan's secret need to discover her background and to cope with his own reactions to her unfaithfulness in their marriage is leading him toward a breakdown. His struggles with his own indiscretions also have him fearing they may reappear and cost him his position, reputation, and career. Adding to Ryan's anxiety is a staff reluctant to address new teaching standards, a school board member who, for unknown reasons, seems to want him gone, and a school referendum that has little chance of passing.
Director of Maintenance and Transportation, Dominic Samilton, would have preferred a local candidate to have been hired as Stienboek's new principal replacing Walt Hannig, however, he likes Ryan and as a third-generation local, he willingly helps him navigate his new surroundings. Back in high school, Dominic had dated Lisa. For his own reasons, he never mentioned the fact to Ryan when they first met, and he is now reluctant to have Ryan find out.
Dominic also struggles with his adopted daughter, Nala's, identity dilemma as she tries to negotiate being the only Black girl in a white high school and community.
Natalia 'Nala' Samilton was adopted as a toddler by Dominic and his wife Kate who were unable to have children of their own. The Samiltons have always loved and been honest with Nala. They assumed there would probably be occasional issues bringing a Black child to Edenton but had been confident the community they and their families had lived in for generations would accept Nala as one of their own.
Growing up, Nala had lots of friends and felt a part of her social group. But as she got older and more aware, she began noticing little ways she was treated differently when out in the community and even at school. In middle school, a few friends began to exclude her from some social events. She began to question her identity and to avoid any limelight. Having been told by the Samiltons that she had had a twin brother named Langston who died in infancy, Nala began to wish he was there to talk to and advise her. She begins imagining conversations with Lang and discussing how she can no longer be a 'Natalia' but isn't sure how to fully embrace being 'Nala' without hurting her parents.
Ayden Quant is a special education student whose impulsivity and tendency to lie belies his instinctual intelligence and insights. He lives with his father, whom he first met when he was almost four after his birthmother died of an overdose in West Virginia, and his stepmom, Anna Quant, who hadn't previously known of his existence until he was brought to Wisconsin. Ayden's best friend Allan Sparks is also his nemesis and delights in playing on Ayden's impulsivity to get him in trouble.