Among Schoolchildren [Paperback]

Tracy Kidder (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1990

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.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

" Christine Zajac teaches fifth grade in a racially mixed school in a poor district of Holyoke, Mass. . . . 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," wrote PW. "A compelling microcosm of what is wrong--and right--with our educational system."
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Many readers have come to expect that anything authored by Kidder ( House, LJ 8/85; Soul of a New Machine, LJ 8/81) will be of high merit. This latest nonfiction work is no exception. It tells in detail the story of a young teacher's daily life and work in the Kelly School, a part of the Holyoke, Massachusetts school system. From September to June, Chris Zajac, a caring, dedicated teacher struggles with the nearly superhuman task of teaching inner-city children, many from impoverished and broken homes. Her pupils are often ill-fed, victims of severe neglect, or worse. Readers will become engrossed in her daily battle to teach these youngsters. (Over half stay up until 12:30 a.m. to watch TV). She agonizes over her pupils, one Clarence in particular. Kidder allows the reader to savor the small daily victories and taste the angst of failure. A warm, honest, refreshingly positive look inside a classroom. Essential for most libraries.
- Annette V. Janes, Hamilton P.L., Mass.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial (September 1, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380710897
• ISBN-13: 978-0380710898
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (79 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #54,170 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Tracy Kidder graduated from Harvard and studied at the University of Iowa. He has won the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, the Robert F. Kennedy Award, and many other literary prizes. The author of Mountains Beyond Mountains, My Detachment, Home Town, Old Friends, Among Schoolchildren, House, and The Soul of a New Machine, Kidder lives in Massachusetts and Maine.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a Mrs. Zajac student, September 15, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Among Schoolchildren (Paperback)

I was inspired to write this review not because I loved Among Schoolchildren-of course I did; I had Mrs. Zajac for a teacher. I was in the 6th grade when Mr. Kidder spent a year at The Kelly School. My motivation was from reading another review-someone questioned if Mrs. Zajac really had a LASTING impression on these students. I would compare myself to Alice-I had a loving family, intelligence, motivation. . .whether or not I had Mrs. Zajac for the 5th grade I would have attended college. But a lasting impression. . .to this day she remains one of my top three teachers-including college. She is unique-and maybe from reading the book the reader doesn't see that, but she is not the average teacher. And I think parents would feel the same way. She is a very wonderful teacher and a true friend. Please, don't read this book and think her students "forgot 5th grade" it's scarey how much I remember of 5th grade. Her mix of humor, toughness and compassion make her a great role model; and now that I too am in education I hope my students remember me as fondly as I remember her.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars YES, this is what teaching is really like, September 30, 2002

By 

Catherine S. Vodrey (East Liverpool, Ohio United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Among Schoolchildren (Paperback)

As a former schoolteacher and the wife of a teacher, I can tell you that Tracy Kidder's "Among Schoolchildren" accurately and soberly depicts what teaching is really like, day to day, year in and year out.

Mrs. Zajac, the grade school teacher on whom Kidder focuses his detailed narrative, is what every teacher should be: tough in a loving way, disciplined, self-aware, willing to admit to her own faults (and when she's boring herself and knows she needs to shake up the lesson next time to avoid boring the students), brimming over with ideas. She's a wonder, and the kind of teacher every child should have at least once in their grade school career.

Kidder leaves no stone unturned. We see here not only the joys and sorrows of teaching, but the accumulation of detail that leaves us feeling we understand, from the inside out, what teachers go through in order to get through to their students. We see how "problem students" and "good students" present different challenges, how teachers and administrators deal with each other (and deal with the parents, the superintendent, and the school board), and even such mundane concerns as how to keep the class in Kleenex (they go through about twenty boxes a year). Though the book is over a decade old, it's prescient about some things. The majority of students in Mrs. Zajac's class are Hispanic--a growing truth throughout the United States--so along with the everyday frustrations of every teacher, we see that Mrs. Zajac has an additional workload imposed merely by the presence of a language barrier:

"Horace, are you all done?"

"No."

"Then why are you talking to Jorge?"

She turned back around and said to Felipe and Jimmy, "What's the matter with you two? The minute I turn my head, you have to talk? What number do you carry, Jimmy?"

"The four."

"Very good. Got it now? OK, Jimmy, you can go back to your desk."

"Ocho," said a voice behind [Mrs. Zajac], unmistakably Manny's hoarse whiskey voice. Manny was trying to whisper to one of his buddies, but he just couldn't do it quietly. [She] turned. "Why don't you try Chinese, Manny? You can say it in Swahili, Manny. I still know you're giving him the answer." [She] liked them to help each other, but today she wanted to find out just how each one was faring in multiplication, so she kept saying, "Your own work."

"Diablo!"

"You keep it up, Manny, and I'll show you what a diablo I can be."

Anyone who's curious about the life of a teacher--or who is thinking of becoming a teacher--would do themselves a huge favor to sit down and read "Among Schoolchildren."

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A pleasant, useful book for people of all races and creeds!, May 5, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Among Schoolchildren (Paperback)

I am an African-American teacher, and I highly disagree with the one star review that this book received -- that it is nice for 'white women' teachers. Good teaching is not a black and white issue. Caring is not a black and white issue. It is irrevelent if the teacher is black, white, brown, etc.. It is attitudes such as these, the elevation of ourselves in terms of educational importance, I believe, that lessons the teaching profession and is a major contributor, I believe, to why people do not want to be teachers. I became a teacher because I love to see my students grow mentally, intellectually and physically. The minority and white teachers I work with are outstanding, and I am happy they are my co-workers. Mr. kidder's book is one shining example of a beautiful teacher who is a representative of all of us who do teaching for the right reasons. Thank-you, Mr. Kidder!