Room One

Keywords: high school, public education, coming-of-age Description: “I’M NOT SUPPOSED TO BE HERE. The words stared back, dark and ominous. So, naturally, I wrote them again: I’M NOT SUPPOSED TO BE HERE… My name, not that it matters, is Thomas Berg. And I’m really not supposed to be here.” So begins ROOM ONE: A Story of Public Education. In this new novel, master storyteller Michael Kanaly turns his unflinching eye on the troubled, yet often amusing world of public education. ROOM ONE is the story of Thomas Berg, certified Room Oner, trapped in the chaos of disruptive classrooms, struggling to extract himself from a dismal cycle of poor grades and failure. All while fighting a deteriorating educational system that seems to exclude him at every turn. Observant, often wickedly funny, Berg senses that something is wrong—with himself, with the system itself—a defect that needs to be exposed and examined, in order to be corrected. In this all-too- real examination of public education, Michael Kanaly looks at the complex questions facing students and educators today. An innovative and provocative book, ROOM ONE takes the reader inside the classroom, into the very heart of public education. Edition: 2009 Publisher: Pilot Hill Press