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