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This novel depicts the inner workings of a school with a diverse group of teachers struggling to maintain order and seek solutions to challenging situations and disruptive students. The teachers seek a classroom environment that is safe and nurturing, but the students find many ways to disrupt the learning and keep the teachers and administrators busy with discipline issues. The teachers are determined to find new approaches and strategies for engaging students and parents in the learning process, but they are continuously met with apathy and antagonism.
With realism and complexity, Rollins opens wide the doors to the modern schoolhouse and lets readers see the day-to-day drama that unfolds in the classrooms, hallways, and offices. Schools are microcosms of power plays with constant battles over learning and best practices, as well as workable solutions when situations go awry. Rollins captures the students as they navigate difficult social situations and academic pressure. He also successfully depicts the teachers as they work relentlessly to teach even as chaos descends unpredictably upon them when students revel in misbehavior.
Written with love and respect for education and the wonder of learning environments, this novel tackles many social issues and other challenges facing schools today. The frustration is palpable, but the hope is ever present as teachers glide into summer and wait for the clean slate of a new year. The hallways of the school shimmer with adolescent angst as Rollins effectively displays the voices and attitudes of the students. The determination of the teachers is evident with each day that passes in the long and winding school year. Rollins delivers the ups and downs of a fraught institution that is always struggling to educate in the midst of youthful exuberance, periodic rebellion, and even outright defiance.