Wild Orchards

The novel is a 90's version of Kesey's Cuckoo's Nest. The setting is a group home for disturbed adolescents, rather than a mental hospital. The youngsters run wild -- drugs, assault, suicide, murder, fires -- and the psychologists and child care staff try, with varying degrees of success, to cope with them. The adults are quite flawed themselves, so ultimately it is the blind leading the blind. The main storyline of the novel involves a middle-aged psychotherapist, nicknamed "Doc", who has an affair with his young female intern, "Doc Pam." Even if Doc and Doc Pam were not so distracted, the emotional and psychological needs of the youth exceed the reach of the available resources. The main characters in the novel suffer from abused or deprived backgrounds, including Doc Pam; her husband, Police Officer Reed; and Scooter and Candie, who are residents at the home.