"The best you can do is show up and hang on."

An entertaining read with a lot of insightful commentary about what it is like to work at a school in a state like Texas. However, it's written in a style that doesn't fully resonate with me, but you might love it.

Every chapter focuses on a different member of this school community, wether it's a teacher, the principal, nurse, custodian, counselor, etc. This makes this place come alive and feel real and complex. However, I struggle connecting with a story when it doesn't have a narrator as an anchor. This choice definitely creates a stronger sense of place and community (which is probably what she was going for and succeeded in). My personal preference, however, is that I want to connect with a character (or small number of characters) and see a story through their eyes. Again, this is simply a preference and you might enjoy this style more than I did.

There were so many storylines that I found compelling, charming, or heartbreaking; I guess I just wanted more from some of those stories instead of just getting a little vignette. It's worth mentioning I am not a teacher, but I always wished I had become one. This was a nice window into what that could've looked like (both the good and the bad). If you are a teacher or work at a school in any capacity, I would imagine this hitting even harder. 

Thank you to NetGalley and Dutton for providing a review copy of this book. It's out now!