Review AND Giveaway Released August 2008 by Hyperion Books
Fiction Paperback, 311 pgs.
Schooled by Anisha Lakhani
Just in time for the new school year, a novel that will interest teachers, parents, tutors, and anyone interested in who is really doing the homework sent home by teachers today. It's an eye opener. Darkly humourous, Schooled was written by a former English teacher in Manhattan.
The story follows Anna Taggert's first year of teaching private middle school children and the shock of discovery about rich kids and the tutors who write their homework assignments for them. An enthusiastic new Ivy League graduate, Anna doesn't just want to teach, she wants to inspire her students. The paycheck isn't great but she's doing what she loves.Until she inadvertantly discovers that high-priced tutors are writing the homework assignments of some of her own students. But she's really shocked when she is encouraged by other teachers and the parents not to ask questions. Even school administration tells her to let the kids slide because, well, their parents make big donations to the school. The parents she's in contact with defend the practice because their poor dears are under such pressure to excel, or have emotional problems and need extra consideration because they absolutely must get into the best universities in the future.
The shock begins to wear off when she's offered a job tutoring in the evenings for $200 an hour. The kids in her class love her when she lets them slide and begins dressing to their own extravagantly rich standards. The parents love her when she doesn't give them homework or tests, especially tests. The pressure is just too much for the little darlings you understand. Anna falls into temptation and doing things the easy way until her conscience catches up with her. She comes to realize how far she's comprised her own principles and something has to change. Lakhani calls this story fiction based on her own experiences as a teacher and those of her colleagues. It's witty, rings true, and is often downright funny. Four stars out of five. I recommend it.
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Thanks to the generosity of Hyperion Books you may WIN one of TWO Avanced Reading Copies of Schooled by Anisha Lakhani
Open worldwide until midnight Monday, September 8
To enter:
Tell me you want Schooled and do the following homework:
****
Thanks to the generosity of Hyperion Books you may WIN one of TWO Avanced Reading Copies of Schooled by Anisha Lakhani
Open worldwide until midnight Monday, September 8
To enter:
Tell me you want Schooled and do the following homework:
1) Comment on any other book mentioned on my blog that you think you might enjoy reading and tell me why for one entry. This includes those in my personal library (shown by LibraryThing). The comment may be short or long.
2) If you blog about this contest and put a link back to it I'll give you two entries.3) Do both and you'll have three chances to win.
Remember there are TWO copies to be won
WINNER will be announced on Tuesday, Sept. 9
I love your new site! Thanks for the giveaway. Please include me -
ReplyDeleteI read Bel Canto years ago, and really enjoyed it - I read it as part of a book club - it gave us a lot to talk about. :) I'm planning on re-reading it in the near future!
I've added your giveaway to my blog in the sidebar under giveaways near the top right side - take a moment and visit mine. . . I just started it and would love feedback!
http://wendisbookcorner.blogspot.com
:) Take care - Wendi
PS - I'm just starting to read Midwife of the Blue Ridge and love it so far!
Hi there! I would. I'd love to win Schooled. I was chosen to receive it as an LT ER book, but never got it and I was dissappointed. I would love to be entered in your drawing!
ReplyDeleteI read your review on The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society and I saw you highly recommend it. I will have to put it on my wishlist.
Feel free to visit my blog: www.bookhangover.blogspot.com.
Thanks for the entry!
I would love to read Schooled! I noticed that you have Martha Peake by Patrick McGrath. Do you recommend it? Was it as good as Asylum?
ReplyDeleteI'd love to be entered. I had a look at your LT catalog, and I noticed we share a lot of my very favorite books (including Alias Grace, Crime and Punishment, and The Little Friend). I had a look through your blog and I'm curious to hear more about The Brief and Wonderful Life of Oscar Wao- I keep seeing it on all the bestsellers shelf in the bookstores.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to win Schooled! This seems exactly my kind of book. Please enter me!
ReplyDeleteThe Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall sounds really interesting. I'm a sucker for shark stories and if the shark has a grudge it's even better. I would also like to read Schooled and would love a chance to win it. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a good read. Please enter me in this giveaway. I've also left a link of this at my blog, it's at http://proudbookworm.blogspot.com (It's off to the side)
ReplyDeleteThanks!
(comment from original blog site on 8/25/2008 2:25:45 PM)Sandra
Thank you so much for thinking of me! But I think with all the books on my shelf that I have yet to read (plus I just got word I'm getting an Early Reviewer book this month), I think I will pass this time! *hugs* Very sweet of you to include me.
ReplyDeleteI would love to read Schooled. I've heard so many good things about it on Library Thing. I've blogged about your giveaway on http://readingwithmonie.blogspot.com . Thanks!!
ReplyDelete8/25/2008 9:26:13 PM
I would love to read Schooled! I read your review of "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society," and it sounds like a great book! I have read a lot of WWII stories, but not very many that are right after the war.
ReplyDelete8/26/2008 7:56:15 PM
I would really like to read "Schooled." I read your review of "The Raw Shark Texts" and since suspense is one of my favorite genres, this really appeals to me. I'll try not to think about that other movie when I read it. You made it sound really good in your review though.
ReplyDeletePlease enter me in your drawing for Schooled. Thanks so much!
8/27/2008 6:18:07 AM
I saw this book on LT and really wanted to win a copy since I have a background in education. It sounds great.
ReplyDeleteI saw that you have listed The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz. I have this book on my wishlist, all the reviews I read about it have been fantastic. I am posting this contest on my blog http://readinginappalachia.blogspot.com. Thanks!
8/27/2008 6:02:02 PM
I'd love to read Schooled and it's great that you'll let readers from outside the US and Canada enter! My son starts school next year.
ReplyDeleteYou have an amazing LT catalogue. I read The Secret River last year and loved it. I have read very little Australian fiction, kind of embarrasssing since I live next door in New Zealand, but want to read the Idea of Perfection soon.
8/27/2008 6:43:34 PM
Count me in on the Schooled drawing! I was intrigued by your mention of The Whirlpool. I love Victorian era fiction, contemporary or historical. Have you ever read The Woman in Black by Susan Hill? Wonderful suspense novel.
ReplyDeletekatherineshuff(at)gmail.com
8/27/2008 7:07:31 PM
I'd love to win this book! Please count me in :)
ReplyDeleteI would love to read Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro because I tend to find books by Japanese authors interesting. Plus, I've read reviews that it's a very good book! Thanks :)
8/28/2008 10:54:23 AM
I've blogged!
ReplyDeletehttp://bunnymoney9.blogspot.com/2008/08/posthumousers-book-giveaway.html
Btw, I think my previous book choice wasn't from your collection. So, another book I'd love to read would be The Virgin Suicides. I've never read it nor seen the movie! Thanks!
8/28/2008 11:02:06 AM
Thanks for your post. Schooled sounds like a really good book. I know my son, whom is a teacher would love this one.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea! I'll pass because I already have a great stack of books waiting to be read and I don't want any more. *smile* But if I remember I'll post the information about your contests on my next entry, as other readers may be interested.
ReplyDelete8/29/2008 9:42:33 PM