What's fresh and even exhilarating about Keizer's book is its locale -an uncelebrated, backwater corner of New England-and his commitment to this place, to altering the lives of his students. On subjects ranging from student courtesy to teenage sex, Keizer opens up his classroom and his commitment with wry wit and rare zeal . . . A seasoned, razor-sharp testament to the complexity and fulfillment of a beleaguered yet essential vocation. Garret Keizer can do the truly remarkable, he can make a reader yearn to go back to high school.

A beautiful, sincere, and terribly important book about how a young teacher grew into his vocation and learned a great deal in the process. It’s also a book about values - intellectual, educational, and moral values - in an age that seems instinctively to distrust them . . . A rich, amusing, and deeply wise book that should challenge and inspire those who care about what happens in our schools.

A compelling mixture of autobiography, sketches of rural life, and social criticism from a tough-minded and compassionate high-school English teacher in northeastern Vermont . . . A refreshing combination of arrogance and humility that reveals the author as neither policy-maker nor theorist, but as a teacher and writer aware of contradictions, ever seeking fresh truths.