Tales Out of School

by Shreve, Susan Richards; Shreve, Porter

• ISBN13: 9780807042175
• ISBN10: 080704217X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-08-01
• Publisher: Beacon Pr

Summary

Sherman Alexie, David Sedaris, and fifteen other writers on their recent experiences in American classrooms Tales Out of School is a luminous collection of diverse and passionate life stories-on-the-ground testimonies of sitting in an American classroom today. Sherman Alexie writes of the "sweet, almost innocent choices that Indian boys [are] forced to make" in school. Stuart Dybek tells his own story of highly instructive Catholic grade-school field trips to the county jail and the stockyards, and David Sedaris narrates a horribly funny account of life underground as a gay eighth grader. These and other writers contribute original essays that tease out the powerful, flawed, wildly diverse experience of school in America. A book for teachers wanting to understand, parents needing to make decisions, and anyone who's sat in a classroom and can't ever forget it. "Give this book an A+. . . . Unlike many books about American education, Tales Out of School avoids the temptation to pigeonhole our system. There are no rights or wrongs here. Only truths." -Vineyard Gazette

Table of Contents

Introduction	vii
Susan Richards Shreve
Indian Education	1	(7)
Sherman Alexie
Field Trips	8	(6)
Stuart Dybek
Tiger-Frame Glasses	14	(19)
Carolyn Ferrell
The Good Immigrant Student	33	(10)
Bich Minh Nguyen
I Like Guys	43	(11)
David Sedaris
Auditorium	54	(9)
Caroline Kettlewell
A Conversation with Judy Blume	63	(7)
Glo Deangelis
The Progressive Basics	70	(12)
Francesca Delbanco
The Boy Without a Flag	82	(17)
Abraham Rodriguez Jr.
Fight the power	99	(17)
Michael Patrick Macdonald
Public Vs. Private	116	(12)
Nina Revoyr
Neighborhood Watch	128	(14)
Porter Shreve
Make Me	142	(12)
David Haynes
Obituary	154	(10)
Lois-Ann Yamanaka
LD	164	(12)
Jeff Richards
What We Come Across	176	(8)
Ashley Warlick
Gryphon	184	(18)
Charles Baxter
Contributors	202	(4)
Credits	206