Taught by America: A Story of Struggle and Hope in Compton [Paperback]

Sarah Sentilles (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2006

After graduating from Yale University, Sarah Sentilles joined Teach for America and was assigned to a rundown elementary school in Compton, California. Through moving portraits of inspiring children, Sentilles relates a heartbreaking journey, as she learns about a failing school system, the true meaning of poverty in America, and the strength children exhibit when they're just struggling to survive. Beautifully written, charged with love and indignation, Taught by America is a powerful tribute to the young lives Sentilles witnessed.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Sentilles joined Teach for America following graduation from Yale in 1995 and was placed in a first-grade class in an elementary school in Compton, California. A white woman raised in suburbia, Sentilles concedes that she knew about poverty, racism, and injustice before the experience, but--like so many Americans--simply ignored them. Her experience in Compton forced her to confront these issues every single day, eventually changing the direction of her life. She had expected to complete a doctorate in literature; instead, she became an ordained Episcopal minister. Through recollections of the students, parents, and teachers in Compton, Sentilles describes the heartbreaking conditions of schools with few resources and of children wanting the same opportunities as others though their lives are filled with violence and neglect. From the day she entered a room with 30 desks and a roster of 36 children, Sentilles found a school with no supplies, falling ceilings, dirt playgrounds, and inexperienced teachers. Even with her admitted "savior complex," Sentilles left the school but shares with readers the poignant lessons she learned there. Vanessa Bush
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

This is a poignant, touching memoir from a natural-born teacher. The education of Sarah Sentilles is something we can all learn from.--Geoffrey Canada, author of Fist, Stick, Knife, Gun and president of Harlem Children's Zone, Inc.

"Sentilles gives a stirring description of working in one of our poorest school systems . . . [A] profoundly moving book."
-Library Journal(starred review)

"Hauntingly eloquent, this memoir raises chilling questions about race, social privilege, failing schools, and the loss of innocence. Sentilles's reflections on her students, their families, and the education they (don't) receive stays with you long after her story ends. This is a wakeup call that we as a nation cannot afford to ignore."--Janie Victoria Ward, author of The Skin We're In

"A stirring account of tragedy and transformation in American public education. Taught by America captures the way one relentless woman confronts her own privilege, suggests the impact Teach for America has on schools struggling with the effects of poverty, and finally, most poignantly, illustrates how Sentilles's students reveal her own search for justice as a kind of faith."--Michael Johnston, author of In the Deep Heart's Core

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 216 pages
• Publisher: Beacon Press (August 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807032735
• ISBN-13: 978-0807032732
• Product Dimensions: 5.4 x 0.4 x 8.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #536,109 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars For Obsidian, January 21, 2006

By 

Pharoah S. Wail (Inner Space) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Taught by America: A Story of Struggle and Hope in Compton (Hardcover)

I both agree and disagree with Lashonda's previous review. There are certainly Hollywood movies along the lines of which she speaks. I can't remember the names but I know Michelle Pfeifer and Tom Berenger were in 1 or 2 each. The "great white savior" types of movies where seemingly all it takes is a dedicated white teacher to turn these kids' lives around.

In the case of this book though, I didn't get that feeling. The author doesn't portray herself as any sort of hero. Nor does she protray the TFA as an organization that is saving the world. After being part of it I think she realizes it does nothing. If anything, she presents herself as a failure. She often questions whether or not this or that was the right thing to do or say in this or that situation. She says she knows she got more from the kids than they got from her, and that she fears she'll get more from the writing of the book than they will from hearing about it or reading it.

I think this book succeeds because Miss Ivy League oh nothing was given to me I worked for everything I have, etc... type of person finally realized that yes she was indeed given things which many are not...the gift of being a white, middle-class American. She found out that no, she didn't show up to classes and receive As simply because she's blond and white, so yes in that sense she had to work for them. What she learned is that she had the luxury of being able to focus on learning for all those years because she had the priviledge of never having to worry nor care about anything else. Those of you reading this review, think back to your childhood days and your place in life right now. Now imagine what that life may have been like had you not had all the things that strike you as being comfortable. A desk. The required books. A full stomach. Read this book, the list is much longer.

It's a shame that the USA has never seemed to realize how often it crushes its own people. The mandatory testing section should be able to make anyone who has a conscience hate this country (if you don't already). If the white middle and upper classes found out their children were being subjected to the things during school hours to which these children (and children like them all over the country) are being subjected, the American public-education system would be overhauled and fixed within the year. That's a fact.

Part of why this book succeeds is because the author failed. As a full-grown woman she couldn't cut it for even 3 years in the public schools of the American ghetto, yet we as a nation expect 5 through 18-year-olds to succeed in this same system?? Don't read this book and think of her as just 1 person. Think of her as a metaphor for 96% of White America in terms of what she can handle and what she thought she knew about this nation.

This book and some of these kids will break your heart. If you read this book and never break down in tears, you're a more stoic person than I. America is still broken. Ghetto kids don't need to read this book. Adults from and/or still in the ghetto don't need to read this book. They are this book, they live this book. Every white American should read books like this. Actually read this one last. First read When Affirmative Action Was White, then Shame of the Nation, then this.

Intelligence is but one part of the key to learning. It's not even the most important aspect. Opportunity and access are what it's all about. Take away those 2 and the brightest mind in the state may be slangin' 'caine on the corner.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Moving and Inspiring, September 27, 2005

By 

Concerned "Citizen" (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Taught by America: A Story of Struggle and Hope in Compton (Hardcover)

The vulnerability expressed by the author in dealing with a situation that was WAY beyond her control was incredibly moving and inspiring. An idealist at heart, Sentilles went into Teach For America for all the right reasons, and when it became clear that TFA had no intentions of providing her with the resources she needed to succeed, she stayed and fought the system right alongside her kids. In a place where many people would have set themselves apart and focused on the differences, Sentilles relentlessly tried to bridge the gap between herself and her kids and provide them with the tools they would need to succeed in the world beyond school - love, support, compassion, humor, and kindness.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful account of a beginning teacher, September 19, 2007

By 

Willa Dalrymple "Just Willa" (Alhambra, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Taught by America: A Story of Struggle and Hope in Compton (Paperback)

This is a beginning teacher in the "Teach for America" program that starts her career in the Compton, CA area better known as the Watts area in LA. Since I have been a teacher for 36 years and live in LA, I relate to this book and her many disappointments and joys. Read it--you'll love it, especially if you are or have been a teacher.