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Reading with Patrick: a teacher, a student, and a life-changing friendship

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English
Lexile measure:
HL: High-Low 730L
Description
“In all of the literature addressing education, race, poverty, and criminal justice, there has been nothing quite like Reading with Patrick.”—The Atlantic
A memoir of the life-changing friendship between an idealistic young teacher and her gifted student, jailed for murder in the Mississippi Delta
FINALIST FOR THE DAYTON LITERARY PEACE PRIZE
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.
“A powerful meditation on how one person can affect the life of another . . . One of the great strengths of Reading with Patrick is its portrayal of the risk inherent to teaching.”—The Seattle Times
“[A] tender memoir.”—O: The Oprah Magazine
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ISBN:
9780812997316
9780812997323
9781101888728
Lexile measure:
HL: High-Low 730L
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Grouping Information

Grouped Work ID24c9a0a5-d67c-cf93-bf3e-4439041c6f9f
Grouping Titlereading with patrick a teacher a student and a life changing friendship
Grouping Authormichelle kuo
Grouping Categorybook
Grouping LanguageEnglish (eng)
Last Grouping Update2024-03-28 02:11:39AM
Last Indexed2024-03-28 02:24:37AM

Solr Fields

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Kuo, Michelle
author_display
Kuo, Michelle
available_at_catalog
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Martin Luther King Jr.
North Natomas
detailed_location_catalog
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Martin Luther King, Jr.
North Natomas
display_description
“In all of the literature addressing education, race, poverty, and criminal justice, there has been nothing quite like Reading with Patrick.”—The Atlantic
A memoir of the life-changing friendship between an idealistic young teacher and her gifted student, jailed for murder in the Mississippi Delta
FINALIST FOR THE DAYTON LITERARY PEACE PRIZE
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.
“A powerful meditation on how one person can affect the life of another . . . One of the great strengths of Reading with Patrick is its portrayal of the risk inherent to teaching.”—The Seattle Times
“[A] tender memoir.”—O: The Oprah Magazine
format_catalog
Book
eAudiobook
eBook
format_category_catalog
Audio Books
Books
eBook
id
24c9a0a5-d67c-cf93-bf3e-4439041c6f9f
isbn
9780812997316
9780812997323
9781101888728
itype_catalog
Adult Book Non-Fiction
last_indexed
2024-03-28T09:24:37.294Z
lexile_code
HL: High-Low
lexile_score
730
literary_form
Non Fiction
literary_form_full
Non Fiction
local_callnumber_catalog
371.826 K967 2017
owning_library_catalog
Sacramento Public Library
owning_location_catalog
Central
Martin Luther King Jr.
North Natomas
primary_isbn
9780812997316
publishDate
2017
publisher
Books on Tape
Random House
Random House Publishing Group
recordtype
grouped_work
subject_facet
Alternative schools -- United States
Kuo, Michelle
Prisoners -- Books and reading -- United States
Prisoners -- Education -- United States
Race discrimination -- United States
United States -- Race relations
title_display
Reading with Patrick : a teacher, a student, and a life-changing friendship
title_full
Reading with Patrick : a teacher, a student, and a life-changing friendship / Michelle Kuo
Reading with Patrick A Teacher, a Student, and a Life-Changing Friendship
title_short
Reading with Patrick
title_sub
a teacher, a student, and a life-changing friendship
topic_facet
African American Nonfiction
Alternative schools
Biography & Autobiography
Books and reading
Education
Kuo, Michelle
Nonfiction
Prisoners
Race discrimination
Race relations

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