Böcker i American Teachers-serien

Weeks before the assassination of Martin Luther King, Allen Greene, a directionless young white man who never intended to be a teacher, finds himself in a Watts classroom, standing before thirty black seventh-grade girls. After a trial-by-fire first day that includes run-ins with violent students and ominous warnings from faculty members, Allen doubts his ability to follow through on the whole venture. He finds some encouragement from unexpected places: a teen mother who is unjustly accused of striking a teacher, a low-achieving gang member with an unexpected gift for poetry, and an elderly teacher with a commitment to social justice who takes Allen under her wing.As he builds a rapport with students as a tough-but-fair teacher, Allen's outside-the-box approach evokes antagonism from some faculty members, especially his department chairman, whose has a vile secret that adds a mini-mystery to the plot. As pressure builds both inside and out of school, Allen joins some students and teachers in peaceful protests while gangs and vandals run wild. After Dr. King is assassinated, the increased tension leads to dramatic showdowns for Allen, who finds both an unlikely savior and an unexpected calling.Not another oversimplified feel-good story of "white teacher saves the ghetto," Los Angeles, 1968: Happy Ranch to Watts is a novel based on first-hand experience and real events in a volatile urban setting, a slice-of-life account of a young man's gradual maturation toward personal commitment.

Based on real events, Grey Pine is a gripping story of one man's struggle to survive amidst the chaos of the forces of nature and the inner workings of a troubled mind. On May 18, 1980, the eruption of Mount Saint Helens captured the attention of America. The communities east of the Cascade Mountains were woefully unprepared for the devastation and disruption that followed, transforming for many a bright spring day into a murky, twenty-hour night. Grey Pine is the story of Phillip Stark, a bright and innovative young science teacher who attempts to treat the ash fall as an opportunity for experiment and wonder, but who is constantly thwarted by the resulting havoc in the community, and his own personal demons. As his health declines, his relationships suffer. The chaotic and often dangerous situations with his alcoholic father, irksome neighbor, unreliable girlfriend, and strained friendships derail any attempt to regain control of his life. All the while the omnipresent ash from the volcanic eruption acts as a symbolic reminder of his oppression and inability to break through. Grey Pine is a gritty account of post-Vietnam America that chronicles social ills that are not unfamiliar to us in the present day: youth suicide, clinical depression, racial tension, alcoholism, and the malaise from an unpopular war. Phillip must find a way to maintain his sanity and strength to move past the obstacles created by the forces of nature-both those from without and within.

Man versus Nature or man versus his own nature-which is the greater battle? Belagana-Belazana (Bilagáana-Bilasáana) and its central character make no pretense of understanding the Navajo people, but the story is reminiscent of the blunt social issues in Sherman Alexie's novels set on a different Indian reservation.Sean Noland-a middle-aged, recently-divorced high school teacher takes a job teaching English at a remote U.S. Government Indian school in the Navajo Nation in Northern Arizona. An outsider to the Navajo as well as his employer, Sean begins to bond with at-risk youth despite common distrust of the belagana, "white man" in the Navajo language. Some bitter staff members and an oblivious bureaucracy complicate matters.Sean forms a surprising connection with his half-Navajo dormitory assistant, Leonard Santos. When Leonard and Sean discover that the school's water is contaminated, they covertly set up a temporary drinking system but know they will eventually have to answer to their agency supervisors.One frigid night, two boys flee from the dormitory because one fears his family's lives are being threatened by his father, who struggles with alcohol abuse. Sean and Leonard embark on a manhunt to find the boys before they freeze to death. Their desperate search is complicated by a disabled vehicle, the ensuing trek in a frozen wilderness, and Sean's worsening hypothermia. They struggle on toward the boy's house, not realizing a hostage situation awaits them there.Can the men and the runaway boys survive the forces of nature and the volatility of human aggression?