For the Socially Awkward and Introverted

It's workshop week for us teachers before the start of the school year, which entails torturous community building for those of us who are socially awkward and/or introverted. I freely admit I can be socially awkward at times and introverted all of the time. At times, I don't know what to say because I'm still processing, say the wrong things because I just do, or don't say anything at all because I'm afraid of what my peers will think of me. After day one of community building, I got to thinking about how stressful this can be for many students - those who are socially awkward and/or introverted. So, my dear students, the first book recommendation is for you - especially if you feel like you don't fit in.

Adults, teachers, administrators, etc., the second book recommendation is for you!


The Thing About Jellyfish by Ali Benjamin 

Although the Goodreads blurb does not mention anything about Suzy (aka Zu) being an outsider in her school, she is. Suzy has one good friend, but that friendship takes a turn as the two grow older.

Goodreads blurb: 

This stunning debut novel about grief and wonder was an instant New York Times bestseller and captured widespread critical acclaim, including selection as a 2015 National Book Award finalist!

After her best friend dies in a drowning accident, Suzy is convinced that the true cause of the tragedy must have been a rare jellyfish sting--things don't just happen for no reason. Retreating into a silent world of imagination, she crafts a plan to prove her theory--even if it means traveling the globe, alone. Suzy's achingly heartfelt journey explores life, death, the astonishing wonder of the universe...and the potential for love and hope right next door.

Reading with Patrick: A Teacher, a Student, and a Life-Changing Friendship by Michelle Kuo

Today, our principal asked us, "Why? Why do you show up every day?" and then asked us to turn and share. Once again, being the introvert (see first paragraph), I needed time to process, but there wasn't much time for me to do so.  I gave some vague reply to my partner, yet the question still left me thinking as I drove home at the end of the day, while I was entranced with and finishing the book this evening, and after I had finished it. It is now 9:30 (time for bed, actually), but I need to share my thoughts on this book and why you should read it.  

Twenty years ago, if I were asked that question, I would have said, "Because I've always wanted to be a teacher."  (Oh, the young and naive me.)  Ten years ago, I would have said, "Because I love kids."  Five years ago, I would have said, "I don't really know."  (I didn't know at this point if I still wanted to teach.) Today, I think I know: "Because I truly believe the world can be better for all of us, and I can help the world be a better place by opening up my students to the wonderful world of reading and writing."  

Through Ms. Kuo's journey, she opens up the world for her students and particularly one student, Patrick, and Patrick opens up the world for Ms. Kuo. I don't want to say too much about the book because it's a lot to digest, and I don't want to taint your thinking about it by giving you my opinions. (Ms. Kuo has a good line about that near the end of the book.)  Although I do want to leave you with my favorite lines: ". . . I have to believe that two people can make a powerful impression on one another, especially in a certain kind of place, where so many have left, and in a certain time, when we are coming of age, not worn down or hardened. In these times and places we are fragile and ready." 

Goodreads blurb: 

A memoir of race, inequality, and the power of literature told through the life-changing friendship between an idealistic young teacher and her gifted student, jailed for murder in the Mississippi Delta.

Recently graduated from Harvard University, Michelle Kuo arrived in the rural town of Helena, Arkansas, as a Teach for America volunteer, bursting with optimism and drive. But she soon encountered the jarring realities of life in one of the poorest counties in America, still disabled by the legacy of slavery and Jim Crow. In this stirring memoir, Kuo, the child of Taiwanese immigrants, shares the story of her complicated but rewarding mentorship of one student, Patrick Browning, and his remarkable literary and personal awakening.

Convinced she can make a difference in the lives of her teenaged students, Michelle Kuo puts her heart into her work, using quiet reading time and guided writing to foster a sense of self in students left behind by a broken school system. Though Michelle loses some students to truancy and even gun violence, she is inspired by some such as Patrick. Fifteen and in the eighth grade, Patrick begins to thrive under Michelle's exacting attention. However, after two years of teaching, Michelle feels pressure from her parents and the draw of opportunities outside the Delta and leaves Arkansas to attend law school.

Then, on the eve of her law-school graduation, Michelle learns that Patrick has been jailed for murder. Feeling that she left the Delta prematurely and determined to fix her mistake, Michelle returns to Helena and resumes Patrick's education--even as he sits in a jail cell awaiting trial. Every day for the next seven months they pore over classic novels, poems, and works of history. Little by little, Patrick grows into a confident, expressive writer and a dedicated reader galvanized by the works of Frederick Douglass, James Baldwin, Walt Whitman, W. S. Merwin, and others. In her time reading with Patrick, Michelle is herself transformed, contending with the legacy of racism and the questions of what constitutes a "good" life and what the privileged owe to those with bleaker prospects.

Reading with Patrick is an inspirational story of friendship, a coming-of-age story of both a young teacher and a student, a deeply resonant meditation on education, race, and justice in the rural South, and a love letter to literature and its power to transcend social barriers.