Educating Esmé: Diary of a Teacher’s First Year

Esme spends a lot of out-of-pocket money buying books for her students. At first, she does this because she is unhappy with the droll reading material that is readily available for her to teach. She is looking for more imaginative and inspiring texts to bring in to share with her students. She soon learns that for many of her students, having a book of their own is a real novelty. Many of them do not own any books at home. This, unfortunately, partly inspires the stealing done by students. Though Esme feels betrayed when books go missing, she realizes how vital it is that the students continue to be exposed to good literature. She lets them take ownership of their reading, presenting staged reenactments and discussing the literature in student-led groups. She allows them to escape their limited surroundings via a time machine that will take them to the world inside any book. At the end of the year, students write her notes, expressing surprise and pride at how much they managed to read in a single year.