First published 2008
Dan Brown walks into P.S. 85 in the Bronx at twenty-two, ready to inspire young minds. The administration assigns him Class 4-217, though they don't mention it serves as the school's dumping ground for every fourth-grade troublemaker. His students test him daily with defiant behavior while parents stay absent and administrators offer no support. Brown's idealism crumbles as he loses control repeatedly. He shouts in anger, smashes his fist through a blackboard, and considers quitting. The classroom feels like a war zone where traditional teaching methods fail completely. Yet somewhere in this educational disaster, Brown begins learning from his failures. He discovers new ways to reach his difficult students and finds strength he never knew he possessed. The story follows both teacher and students as they struggle against a system that has already written them off.
Genres: fiction, american-fiction, education, academic
Vibes: emotional, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: Bronx, P.S. 85
Period: 20th-century
292 pages · Paperback · Arcade Publishing
Content warnings: abuse, violence