Schooled by Anisha Lakhani

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.
****
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