Pushback, Claim Your Voice gives a rare glimpse inside the boilerhouse present in both elementary and high school classrooms: the kindnesses and the cruelties. The novel follows the struggles of Sheilagh O'Neil who believes that violence and anger will solve all her friendship problems. Sheilagh is a rebellious teen with a chip the size of a Volkswagen on her shoulders. She has grown up in poverty with three older siblings, all from different fathers. Her mother is an alcoholic and druggie. A neighbour, Mrs. Finnegan, and her Uncle Harry are the infrequent adults in her chaotic life. Sheilagh has had no success in school or out of it. Her temper alienates everyone she meets. Legislated to a group home, Sheilagh continues to use anger to keep others at bay in her new high school. She has her privacy and pride but can she cope with the loneliness? She comes under the influence of two supportive women: Ms. Spark, her English teacher who believes writing will help her cope and Mrs. Griggs, her youth counsellor, whose acceptance is a balm for Sheilagh's wounded heart. As she starts to write for Ms. Spark, she creates a narrator who is the polar opposite of herself: a young immigrant girl, Titshia, who is accused of a sexual misdemeanor and cruelly bullied because of it. Titshia's Italian cullture teaches her to be 'a good girl' which means to accept such unjust cruelty while Sheilagh's habit is to strike first, physically and verbally. Neither girl is happy with the outcomes of their choices. They have no "sheltering tree of friendship". Both girls chafe under the prejudices of school culture and society's expectations of womanhood. Will they be able to pushback against these forces to claim their own voices?
