FOR THIS BOOK, I spent a year back in high school. Well, not really. I spent a few days a week with students during their year of high school.

A teacher friend at Walter Payton College Preparatory High School, in downtown Chicago, introduced me to the students.  The students – six seniors and two juniors – were kind enough to let me follow them around with a notebook.  We talked about upcoming games, drama with friends, pregnancy scares, and college applications. Their stories made the book what it is: part documentary, part sketchbook, part something else. The book is also a journal of the day-to-day life of a high school, from Phys Ed to prom.  Lastly, this being Chicago, it’s a story about weather.

I have a great deal of appreciation for the students’ openness in sharing their lives with me.  I had fun writing this book (though I still have trouble saying the title!).  Mostly, though, I loved the reporting – going to football games, homecoming dances, or just talking with a student in the halls after English class.

ridiculous/hilarious/terrible/cool:
A Year in an American High School

Published by:
Dial Books 2008
us.penguingroup.com
ISBN 978-0-8037-3169-1
$17.99

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