First published 1989
Sarah Mitchell walks into her English classroom to find her students huddled around the new computer terminal, their voices hushed but excited. As the first teacher in Lincoln High School to receive the experimental telecommunications equipment, she expected some curiosity. She did not expect to uncover a hidden network connecting students across the country. Her students have found ways to communicate beyond the approved educational channels, sharing everything from homework answers to personal secrets with peers they will never meet. Sarah faces a choice between reporting the unauthorized use and preserving the genuine learning she witnesses. The technology meant to enhance her lessons becomes a window into her students' lives and desires for connection beyond their small town boundaries.
Genres: education, computers, technology, academic
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: Lincoln High School
Period: 20th-century, 21st-century
74 pages · Paperback · Intl Society for Technology in educ