The Cruelest Months

Rating:
Summary: Read It!
Review: Author Dorothy Fletcher claims the book is fiction, but surely it is not! As every teacher can attest, these are the students who inhabit--and haunt--every high school classroom in America; yet the characters come across as individuals. The teacher's first encounter is with an impatient, sarcastic junior who announces herself as "Rhodezzzzia." (The intonation is perfect.) The final encounter is by the bedside of Rochelle, a shy student with AIDS, who dies "one week shy of her seventeenth birthday." In the intervening months, the students gain confidence in their abilities, question their values, give up on school, and face some harsh realities of life. Along the journey of one school year, Mrs. Fletcher guides you through the lessons of some of the greats, such as Edgar Allan Poe, Sojourner Truth, T.S. Eliot, and Maya Angelou. She also teaches you about human nature--both adult and adolescent. Read The Cruelest Months! You will laugh aloud, but keep a hankie nearby. You will need it.

Rating:
Summary: Valuable Insight to the Challenges to Our Teachers
Review: Fletcher's book demonstrates how teachers learn from their students and has used a clever format to lead us through her adventures in educating her students.

Entertaining and enlightening.

Dickie Anderson
Author/Columnist - Amelia Island - Florida

Rating:
Summary: More important now than ever
Review: I recommend this book for teachers and those thinking about being a teacher. More importantly, I recommend this book to everyone concerned about our education system. Ms. Fletcher accurately describes the dedication and efforts of teachers working under very difficult conditions. Now, more than ever, our schools need the support of the public in our efforts to prepare our students for a challenging world.