Welcome to the Sands of Time.net
the personal website of Jerry Sander, A.C.S.W., psychotherapist and author.  It is my hope that this website becomes a place where you can ponder some good thoughts, get support for your own personal growth, keep up with some of the bigger events occurring in my life, have some laughs, and generally realize that you are not alone.  In addition to this website, you can keep up with my semi-regular blog at:

http://blog.myspace.com/permission_slips

Another year of high school has begun.  I have made the adjustment to waking up at 5:18 a.m., five days a week, again, having savored the warmth of summer and soaked it up like a lizard on a rock.  I hope it sustains me over the course of the ever-challenging Hudson Valley winters.  Like many people who feel most themselves in summer, I tend to discount fall and spring.  (Jim Morrison was a prime example of this; he followed the song "Summer's Almost Gone" on an early album with "Wintertime Love."  I suppose Jim could've done with a bit of spring and fall.)

My second novel has been finished, and is waiting to be born.  (It has been read by a handful of trusted truth-tellers and changes have been made.  It is in the midst of being read by agents, hoping to get it into publishing houses, etc. shortly.)  My new novel will be for teenagers, whereas Permission Slips was primarily about teenagers (and adults, and the world they mutually inhabit: school). 

I'm gratified that Permission Slips  has gotten several strong, well-written reviews recently:

C.Yanda, on Amazon.com, May 2006: "...[Permission Slips] should set the standards for fiction on this level in the future...a book with substance...grabs you from the beginning and doesn't let you go even when you're finished."  Amazon.com: Permission Slips: Books: Jerry Sander

Chronogram Magazine, January, 2006: "...Sander has ripped the sugarcoating from the myth of jovial good will and academic striving...He has an empathy for teenagers that makes even the most misguided among them seem comprehensible, as well as a feel for the ways in which a moment's impulse can resonate outwards like ripples on a dark pond. It sounds bleak, perhaps, but it's hilarious and full of love...a huge slice of life...Sander certainly knows his terrain...an admirable job of wrapping his insights into a package of revelation."  http://www.chronogram.com/issue/2006/01/arts/books/reviews.php

January Magazine, November, 2005: "...[Sander] has the speech, the rhythm and the jargon of teenagers absolutely right. I've seldom read such verbal spot-on accuracy...Scary...worth a read for a look at what is probably a very true picture of...American high school." -- Cherie Thiessen http://www.januarymagazine.com/fiction/permissionslips.html
 

Midwest Book Review, November 5th, 2005:  "Permission Slips is...not sanitized for one's emotional protection, like most novels about a ninth- grader lost in the chaos of high school are...A dark, sometimes violent story of struggling to maintain a stable life, identity, and maybe even find love amidst the worst youth has to offer." http://www.midwestbookreview.com/sbw/nov_05.htm

BookPleasures.com, August 15th, 2005: "...a realistic glimpse into the lives of today's teenagers, in some ways tougher and more complicated than ever before...characters are realistically drawn, and Sander's brutal honesty in his portrayal of characters who feel completely justified in their actions can be downright shocking." --- Emily Shaffer http://www.bookpleasures.com/Lore2/idx/0/1628/article/PERMISSION_SLIPS.html?pt_sid=5112b254a6b30a2bf541b0fc6a606394) 

The Times Herald-Record, November 13th, 2005: "...an eye-opening first novel." -- Mitchell Uscher

Permission Slips, was first reviewed, in May '05, by Mr. Alan Caruba, member of the National Book Critics Circle, in his May edition of Bookviews.com as a "recommended" novel.  Mr. Caruba called Permission Slips "...in many ways a profoundly disturbing book and not for the squeamish," and concluded, "Parents of teenagers will benefit from reading this book."  http://www.bookviews.com/archive/bookviews-may2005.htm

I'm also gratified to have received the following customer comment from a current high-school senior on Amazon.com:

 "Permission Slips breaks down the institution that has so often been stereotyped and presents it without the saccharine. Hadleyville High overlaps the chaos at both the adult and teen levels to recreate an atmosphere any reader will be sure to find strikingly real. The greatest strength of the story is in its presentation of how one place- a typical American high school- unites characters that under any other circumstance would never interact, let alone share 7 hours a day under the same roof. Sander's ability to add a genuine depth to each character gives the reader a multi-angled perspective of a setting normally seen through only one pair of eyes. An all around must-read for anyone with an appreciation for unpasteurized truth."

Permission Slips has just gone into its second printing; special thanks to the folks who pointed out the handful of typos. 

A Permission Slips Discussion Guide for educators, parent groups, &/or book clubs has been written and is now available. Designed to assist "in-service" training sessions for teachers and other educational staff in four-week/four-session format, the guide is an ice-breaker for discussing all the "hot-button" issues raised in the novel and is cross-referenced with the pages of the book. Only bold/brave school districts need apply.  Request one at: jsander@thesandsoftime.net

What is Permission Slips all about?

Permission Slips portrays a mosaic of teenage chaos, confusion and sexual anarchy, set in a suburban high school. A 9^th grade “good girl,” Alison Gepner (who wants to be seen as an edgy individualist) pursues her search for meaning amidst a culture that seems to know the price of everything and the value of nothing.  The adult world around her seems to be a mess, holding on by its fingertips to the illusion of control while trying its hardest to avoid looking at the emptiness at its core.  Is love just another hypocritical joke?   Take a further look at Permission Slips here. Or just order Permission Slips directly through PayPal by clicking here.)

Yahoo news picked up the story and featured it as a "five-star" Op/Ed column on 6/24/05.  Click this link to read the article.  {Please note it may not be reprinted without permission of the Christian Science-Monitor!]   The article was also picked up by the Provo City Daily Herald, and several other cities' newspapers.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0623/p09s01-coop.html

Please read my monthly column, Timely Sand, by clicking the above left link.  Previous articles,including some rarities, can be read in Vintage Sand .  You can respond by leaving comments in Guestbook or by private e-mail (jsander@thesandsoftime.net)(here).  I will scramble your initials, or reassign new ones, in the Guestbook unless you request to use your real name.  Read some Quotes of Merit each month.   

Many of us don’t feel well represented by what passes for mainstream “culture” these days.  We watch as images of war, suffering, and degradation become daily part of our easily-consumed pop-culture.  My hope is that this website can provide an interesting alternative and help stimulate the more intelligent parts of you.  And make you smile.