Adequate Yearly Progress

With over a decade of experience as a public school teacher and nationwide speaker on educational topics, Roxanna Elden a lot to say about the Hollywood version of the teacher story, where one self-sacrificing hero battles her terrible colleagues to save the kids. Real-life teaching raises much more complex questions, and the characters aren’t so easily cast as heroes and villains.

 

This is what inspired Elden’s debut novel, a brilliantly entertaining and moving story that switches perspectives among a diverse group of teachers and offers a humorous, panoramic inside look at our education system.

 

ADEQUATE YEARLY PROGRESS focuses on Brae Hill Valley, a struggling high school in Houston, Texas. On top of the familiar educational challenges each school year brings, teachers face their own personal trials, which may finally spill over into their classrooms.

 

Perfect for readers who love to explore unfamiliar worlds they would never otherwise experience, fans of satirical writers like Laurie Gelman and Tom Perrotta, and seasoned educators who will relate to and chuckle at every page, ADEQUATE YEARLY PROGRESS is an amusing and perceptive workplace comedy that captures the essence of teaching.



 My Review

 I wanted to read this book as I saw a blurb about it being compared in the same category as Class Mom. Those books are hilarious. I really enjoy reading those books. Thus, the reason that I wanted to check out this book. Sadly, It was not like Class Mom. 

 First off, I not once found myself laughing. Second, I was struggling to find any connection towards the teachers. They seemed more sad than happy or funny. What they poked fun at about the routine of the start of another school year was not that funny. Although, teachers I am sure can and will relate to the different situations that the teachers face in this book. As I stated, this book was not for me. Yet, It seems that so far I am in the minority so don't take my opinion only. Try this book out for yourself.




ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Roxanna Elden is the author of Adequate Yearly Progress: A Novel, which was previously self-published, and See Me After Class: Advice for Teachers by Teachers. She combines eleven years of experience as a public school teacher with a decade of speaking to audiences around the country about education issues. She has been featured on NPR as well as in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, and more. You can learn more about her work at RoxannaElden.com.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Let's Get Buck Naked!

Image
Description Sadie Becker is not herself. A 40-year-old, divorced mother of two, Sadie wakes up one morning and realizes that she looks and feels like she did in her twenties. Suddenly she’s unable to walk around in her new town of Cougarville without men falling at her feet. Confused and alone, Sadie isn’t sure who to turn toÖexcept answers to her problems might reside with her broodingly handsome reclusive neighbor, Mathis.  An alpha shifter, Mathis lost the love of his life, and he knows he’ll never find another mate. But his innocent new neighbor clearly doesn’t know the danger she’s in, and he's the only one who can save her.  But when the attraction pulls too strong, will Mathis’ animal nature be unleashed and claim Sadie for his own?  Buck Naked  is a sexy, emotional thrill-ride that will hook readers on this fantastic new series.   Author Bio Evangeline Anderson is the author of the Brides of the Kindred, Alien Mate Index, and Bor...
Read more

Book Giveaway

Image
As a little girl, Jane has no one. Her mother, the powerful head of a Broadway theater company, has no time for her. She does have one friend-a handsome, comforting, funny man named Michael-but only she can see him.Years later, Jane is in her thirties and just as alone as ever. Then she meets Michael again-as handsome, smart and perfect as she remembers him to be. But not even Michael knows the reason they've really been reunited.SUNDAYS AT TIFFANY'S is a love story with an irresistible twist, a novel about the child inside all of us-and the boundary-crossing power of love. So it is a new year. I hope everyone is having a great one so far. Thanks to Hachette, I have 5 copies of Sunday's at Tiffany's to giveaway to readers. Open only to US and Canada. No PO Boxes. Leave a comment with your email address if you would like to be entered to win. Thank you Contest ends January 30th. I will pick the winners January 31st. Thanks and Good Luck
Read more

If You Tell: A True Story of Murder

Image
#1 New York Times bestselling author Gregg Olsen’s shocking and empowering true-crime story of three sisters determined to survive their mother’s house of horrors. After more than a decade, when sisters Nikki, Sami, and Tori Knotek hear the word mom , it claws like an eagle’s talons, triggering memories that have been their secret since childhood. Until now. For years, behind the closed doors of their farmhouse in Raymond, Washington, their sadistic mother, Shelly, subjected her girls to unimaginable abuse, degradation, torture, and psychic terrors. Through it all, Nikki, Sami, and Tori developed a defiant bond that made them far less vulnerable than Shelly imagined. Even as others were drawn into their mother’s dark and perverse web, the sisters found the strength and courage to escape an escalating nightmare that culminated in multiple murders. Harrowing and heartrending, If You Tell is a survivor’s story of absolute evil—and the freedom and justice that Nikki, Sami, and T...
Read more