Customer Reviews

In the Deep Heart's Core

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

What makes this book so uncommonly good is the author's refusal to hide behind the polite euphemisms of racial and social inequality that have for too long hampered most attempts to change the status quo in the deep South. This book's candid portrayals of hope and fear, frustration and tolerance at Greenville High make for a compelling read. Once you've started reading, you're hooked!

I read this book after an urban student teaching experience, and I think that has the ability to really open a prospective-teacher's eyes to what they are about to face. Johnston provides the reader with a realistic account of urban education and how a first year teacher deals with the milestones of adolescence.

I was moved to tears many times while reading this book. Johnston's love for his newfound land is evident and his tender prose reads like poetry in parts. He clearly encountered countless hardships while teaching at Greenville High, but he is quick to take himself to task along with others, which shows his humility. I would recommend this beautifully written account to anyone interested in improving education in America.

Twenty-two years old and fresh out of Yale, Michael Johnston, as a member of Teach for America, ventures to Greenville Mississippi to teach high school English. Greenville High School, like many other schools of its kind, has transformed from an all white school in the 1960s and earlier, to now being predominately a poor black school. It is riddled with drugs, violence, teen pregnancy and lost hope.

Johnston tells the stories of Greenville High's students over his two year period as a teacher there. He is able to get beneath the surface of stereotypes and develop an understanding and connection with his students, while learning what it means to truly "teach," while sharing in the triumphs and disappointments of his students. It is these battles that drive to the very core of the reader, filling them with a wave of emotions. He tells the story of a Chico, a star athlete with limitless possibilities who is courted by top colleges around the country, only to be swallowed by the same demons of hopelessness that claim so many of his peers. Johnston also tells the story of a promising young writer who is slowly being lured into the life of drugs and violence that fixates itself among these students' lives.

Overall, a great read, and it reminded me of Savage Inequalities, which I read a few years back and which also moved me in many ways. Johnston has a soft and smoothing demeanor, and his passion for his students and education are expressed well throughout the book. This book does not present solutions, but is meant rather to tell the students stories, and to a degree help shed light on some of the problems we as America still face. These types of schools are far too common and often swept under the rug in America. To look at Greenville High's students in the eyes is to face the reality not just that our race problem is far from solved, but that it is in fact festering in these pockets of abandonment.

I am a classmate and friend of the author at YLS and would like to refute the earlier character-attacking review from the YLS student. While I have not had the opportunity to read through the entire book myself, I have talked with the author about education issues and his book, and have found him to be highly informed. More importantly, I feel that he has a legitimate desire to improve the plight of those children from disadvantaged backgrounds through education reform.

I was born in Greenville, Mississippi, myself, and though I have not lived there in some years, this book definitely reaches through to the realities of the place and shares some amazing stories. However, I'm not sure what kind of action Johnston is calling for in response to his writing. Some might think he's just pulling at heartstrings or attempting to bring up the problems with a community without offering any positive elements, and I can agree with both of those remarks. In the Deep Heart's Core provides an important glimpse of the problems and challenges that face the South, particularly Mississippi, as it tries to put the nastier elements of its history out of sight and out of mind. They're not gone, though -- the consequences of centuries of oppression are still very much visible, and Johnston shows this very well. Now if he can help point us to the solution.... Do we just need more people like him there? Do we need to just start over? What's the next step? That's the real question this book raises, and I only wish he had offered a version of his own answer to share with the reader and encourage us all to take action.

This is one of the top 15 best books I have ever read. Its sensitivity coupled with vivid imagery and heartbreaking story are riveting. You will finish it quickly simply because you cannot put it down. Read it. Give it to your friends, teachers, former teachers, neighbors, strangers on the street. This author deserves to be read.

As a current Teach for America Corps Member, teaching close to the city of Greenville, MS, I was able to relate to the story on many levels. I appreciated MJ's ability to walk us through the rise and demise of many of his students, almost to the point where each success was quickly overridden by a failure. Gave great insight into the fragile nature of all the kids in GHS, in which we jump at their aspirations, and applaud them as they make their climb, yet must always be ready to catch them on the way back down.

This is an excellent book about a man who teaches at-risk students for 2 years. His writing style is engaging and I was pulled in immediately. I do recommend this book.
The only comment I have is that he knew he was going to leave after 2 years. When I began teaching in a similar situation, I wanted to teach until I retired. It's a different mindset.
No Child Left Behind? The True Story of a Teacher's Quest

A must-read for any teacher! Very inspiring and a serious eye-opener to what a teacher may have to face. Also brings to light the deep-rooted racism that still exists in the south and how this teacher dealt with it.