Synopses & Reviews
Tracy Kidder -- the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of
The Soul of a New Machine and the extraordinary national bestseller
House -- spent nine months in Mrs. Zajac's fifth-grade classroom in the depressed "Flats" of Holyoke, Massachusetts. For an entire year he lived among twenty schoolchildren and their indomitable, compassionate teacher -- sharings their joys, their catastrophes, and their small but essential triumphs. As a result, he has written a revealing, remarkably poignant account of education in America . . . and his most memorable, emotionally charged, and important book to date.
Review
"Through Kidder's calmly detailed re-creation of Zajac's daily round we come to know her students' fears and inmost strivings; we also share this teacher's frustrations, loneliness and the rush of satisfaction that comes with helping students learn....A compelling microcosm of what is wrong and right with our educational system." Publishers Weekly
Review
"Many readers have come to expect that anything authored by Kidder will be of high merit. This latest nonfiction work is no exception....A warm, honest, refreshingly positive look inside a classroom." Library Journal