Although teachers in suburban schools will find themselves longing for the freedom of speech that Madame Esme exercises when dealing with her superiors, they will at the same time find themselves vindicated by knowing that SOMEONE out there is telling administrators what for! As a first year teacher myself who felt as though I was drowning, this book gave me hope and laughter -- two necessary tools for surviving the first year in any school. I completely don't understand the reveiwer who hated this book, claiming that not all teachers are "like that"; that "some of us have morals." This person must have read only a sentence or two in this book. Esme Codell has extremely lofty morals -- and all teachers should aspire to them. She has heart and creativity and strength. The only flaw to this book is that most first-year teachers are not as gifted and confident as Codell, so in that sense it may be difficult to relate to. However, it contains a wealth of fresh ideas, and like I said, those two magic ingredients of a teacher's survival -- hope and laughter.

Educating Esme is a fantastically funny, engaging, and sadly "real" book about teaching today. I laughed and cried as I read this fast-read book. It is a must read for all teachers and parents of elementary-aged children. Esme's realistic anecdotal records of her teaching experiences in a public school will open eyes to what is "really" happening in the schools. If you have ever wondered about public education and what teachers endure as public "servants," then read Educating Esme. You will see firsthand what teachers face on a daily basis. Scary, but true!

I picked up Educating Esme: Diary of a Teacher's First Year and was enthralled. I am also a teacher -- this will be my 26th year and reading this book was like reliving my own first rollercoaster year. It was great to be reminded that a sense of humor is the best antidote to woes ( and there will always be a multitude.) This book is a winner in that it reminds us to honor the spirit of creativity, the humanity of each person and the possibilities of the human spirit. I can't figure out why anyone would not be inspired to do a better, more soulful job after seeing this young woman's artful and inspirational wrestling job that first year. I just finished reading it again -- I've got to get ready to teach soon and wanted that rush of excitement. If you are a teacher or want to be a teacher -- read this. It is reality with stars and moons and a big dollop of something that smells suspiciously like earthy verisimilitude. Breathe in and go forth! By the way, I would love to sit in that Time Machine and read - what an inspired way to make kids relove learning. (yes, relove - they forget how much fun it is too!)

"Someday, people will be glad I kept track. Someday, people will see I am a writer. And because I am writing a true story of my life I have to talk about school, since I am still a kid and it is a very big part of my Heart-Wrenching Life Story and Amazing Adventures. I am sorry to report that school is heavy on the Heart-Wrenching but so far has been running low-to-empty on Amazing Adventures."

Several of my favorite YA's from recent years--SPEAK, YOU DON'T KNOW ME, and the upcoming A NORTHERN LIGHT immediately come to mind--tell stories of young characters whose transformation is instigated by an insightful teacher who thinks and operates "outside the box." While written for a slightly younger audience, Esmé Raji Codell's first children's novel, SAHARA SPECIAL, which is set in Chicago, stands alongside the others in this regard:

"In she walked. Our new teacher!

"I blinked, and blinked again. Her hair was copper like a lucky penny, but when the light hit it a certain way, it seemed almost green, a deep green, like she colored it with a dye made from tree leaves. It was held back with sparkling dragonfly barrettes, but there was no help for it. It was wild hair. She was pale, but I couldn't tell for sure if she was white or Asian or Puerto Rican, or maybe light-skinned black. When someone is wearing lipstick as purple as an eggplant, it's hard to tell. She wore lime eye shadow and heavy black liquid eyeliner, making her expression catlike. She wore a yellow dress that looked like it was made of tissue paper, kind of old-fashioned and grandmotherly, but hanging slightly over her shoulder. Her bra strap was showing. It was also purple. She looked less like a teacher and more like one of those burnt-out punk-rocker teenagers who hang out in front of the Dunkin' Donuts on Belmont, near the L stop. Only grown."

Sahara is in need of a new start as she begins to repeat last year's grade. She and Darrell Sikes spent much of the previous school year working in the hallway, getting "Individualized Attention" (the source of her nickname, Sahara Special)--

"---and let me tell you, working in the hallway with a teacher is like being the street person of the school. People pass you by, and they act like they don't see you, but three steps away they've got a whole story in their heads about why you're out there instead of in the nice cozy classroom where you belong. Stupid? Unlucky? Unloved? If I could have put out a cup, I would have made some change."

But things do change for Sahara, Darrell, and their classmates when the school hires a new teacher from "Somewhere Else." Her name--

"--'is Madame Poitier, Miss PWAH-tee-YAY. It rhymes with touché, a French word that means, "you got me." ' "

And to the benefit of Sahara and Darrell, "Miss Pointy," as she is frequently called, doesn't believe in reading what previous teachers have said about you. What Miss Pointy does have a thing for is the power of story. Readers will join Sahara in learning a thing or three about understanding and writing stories.

Similarly, teachers and other grownups might well join young readers in learning their own thing or three from Miss Pointy's teaching methods. One of my favorites is her trouble basket:

"Miss Pointy tries to get us to leave our problems at home. She stands at the doorway every morning, smiling like she's auditioning to be a movie star, but she blocks the door and nobody gets in until they use the trouble basket. We pretend to put our troubles into the big green basket she holds out before we enter. Our troubles are invisible to the eye, but they are heavy. She practically breaks her back, holding all those troubles for us, but she says we can't carry them into the classroom ourselves or we won't be able to work. She offers the troubles back to us at the end of the day, since they don't belong to her. Nobody's taken them back."

This is one that I can't wait to read aloud--fifth to seventh grade seems the prime audience--so that I can share with them the story of this troubled-yet-talented girl whose entire class is transformed by a very cool teacher.

Richie Partington

I loved Sahara and her magical teacher, Ms. Pointy. Teachers, read this gem out loud to your classes. We have Joey Pigza as a "special" boy and now it's time for a "special" girl, Sahara.
Codell's writing will touch your heart.

Like Francie Nolan in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Sahara learns to flower in the desert of city life and the absence of her father. Sahara's character is in the tradition of antiheroines or, rather, heroic young "misfits" before her, such as Mick Kelly who privately and protectively creates her music in The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter. Who will hear--or want to?

From her teacher Miss Pointy (who, despite her name, helps smooth the sharp edges of school life), Sahara learns to listen to her own mind and heart and, most touchingly, to take comfort from it.

Younger readers who live in crowded inner city neighborhoods will recognize and appreciate Esme Codell's descriptions of city and classroom life and relationships with family, friends, and teachers. Once read, older readers will want to read this book to younger ones so they can hear Sahara's special voice again.