the corporate kid
Charles Sullivan looks like your average fifteen-year-old. A good kid. He plays basketball with his friends. He listens to music. He argues with his little sister.
Until one hot summer day when a car accident brings to the Sullivan family doubt, despair—and a unique opportunity.
Charles quickly finds himself moving in circles he’s never dreamed of. Is he in over his head? Or is he about to change the world for the better, now that he’s The Corporate Kid?
Two very different lives intersect in The Corporate Kid. Charles Sullivan is a youth from the poor part of Atlanta, with a strong sense of family and a good moral compass. Bill Bradford is a powerful CEO who’s lost his way—not just ethically, but, one fateful Sunday morning, also literally. A few wrong turns bring Bill to the south side of town, where he hits Charles’s mother in a car accident. Before long the lives of the Sullivan and Bradford families are intertwined in a mixture of comedy and drama—and opportunity. Charles finds himself face to face with crooked attorneys, helpful pastors, angry protestors, and a cast of other friends and foes, as events take him from his poor neighborhood to the boardroom of Bradford’s giant company. The Corporate Kid shows how ethical decision-making is something everyone can aspire to, even if they’re seemingly powerless and even if they’ve temporarily lost their way. Charles stays true to his morals and, by the end of the book, changes the world he lives in. The Corporate Kid is for young readers who want an uplifting story, and for the grownups who want them to have positive role models.
About The authors
Neil Shulman, M.D., is the author of more than thirty books for readers of all ages. His adult fiction includes What? Dead...Again?, which was made into the 1991 Michael J. Fox movie, "Doc Hollywood." Some of his medical books ( such as The Black Man's Guide to Good Health and The Real Truth About Aging) have improved the quality of life of thousands of readers. Others (such as 101 Ways to Know if You're a Nurse) heal with laughter. Neal's books for children include Don't Be Afraid of the Dentist; Kid Power: The Great Face-Off!; and What's In a Doctor's Bag? He is a past president of the Patch Adams nonprofit organization (the Gesundheit Institute), and is also a highly sought-after speaker for Fortune 500 companies and other large audiences. He devotes much of his time to charitable causes and finding ways to improve the lives of others.
"I've had the opportunity to have friends who are very poor and friends who are billionaires," Neil says. "I've learned a lot from both groups, especially the ones who are caring, ethical human beings. The characters in The Corporate Kid are fictitious; however, the lessons I've learned from my remarkable friends have helped me in the writing of this book. Any resemblance between characters in the book and real folks is purely coincidental."
Susan Wrathall has been a teacher in the field of special education for more than twenty-five years. She lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, with her two daughters, Sophia and Simone, and their two Yorkshire terriers. "Between work and home," says Susan, "there is never a dull moment." The Corporate Kid is her first novel.