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| In the Deep Heart's Core | 
 enlarge | Author: Michael Johnston
Creator: Robert Coles
Publisher: Grove Press
Category: Book
List Price: $22.00
Buy New: $2.85
You Save: $19.15 (87%)
New (10) Used (29) Collectible (2) from $0.04
Avg. Customer Rating:  16 reviews
Sales Rank: 905464
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 208
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 5.6 x 0.9
ISBN: 080211721X
Dewey Decimal Number: 373.1100976242
EAN: 9780802117212
ASIN: 080211721X
Publication Date: September 2002
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 A Voice for Students May 6, 2005
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
Twenty-two years old and fresh out of Yale, Michael Johnston, as a member of Teach for America, ventures to Greenville Mississippi to teach high school English. Greenville High School, like many other schools of its kind, has transformed from an all white school in the 1960s and earlier, to now being predominately a poor black school. It is riddled with drugs, violence, teen pregnancy and lost hope.
Johnston tells the stories of Greenville High's students over his two year period as a teacher there. He is able to get beneath the surface of stereotypes and develop an understanding and connection with his students, while learning what it means to truly "teach," while sharing in the triumphs and disappointments of his students. It is these battles that drive to the very core of the reader, filling them with a wave of emotions. He tells the story of a Chico, a star athlete with limitless possibilities who is courted by top colleges around the country, only to be swallowed by the same demons of hopelessness that claim so many of his peers. Johnston also tells the story of a promising young writer who is slowly being lured into the life of drugs and violence that fixates itself among these students' lives.
Overall, a great read, and it reminded me of Savage Inequalities, which I read a few years back and which also moved me in many ways. Johnston has a soft and smoothing demeanor, and his passion for his students and education are expressed well throughout the book. This book does not present solutions, but is meant rather to tell the students stories, and to a degree help shed light on some of the problems we as America still face. These types of schools are far too common and often swept under the rug in America. To look at Greenville High's students in the eyes is to face the reality not just that our race problem is far from solved, but that it is in fact festering in these pockets of abandonment.
In the Deep Heart's Core October 31, 2004
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
It's true that this book can be a bit self-congratulatory, and at times the author is overconfident of his aim, partly because he's an outsider, drawing from and trying to make sense of his own limited experience as an idealistic northerner in a troubled southern town. Yet his perspective as an outsider is also the book's strong suit. Johnson's observations on two years spent teaching in the Greenville, Mississippi public schools are, on the whole, original, thoughtful, provocative and illuminating. He is also an excellent writer, which makes what could have been a drab academic treatise a thoroughly entertaining and memorable read. I'm sure Johnson has caught his share of flak from the people he wrote about, because the truth sometimes hurts, and any time someone tries to assess another person's life there will be errors and omissions. But Johnson clearly sympathizes with his subjects and his book provides an important service by opening a window onto a world that is unfortunately overlooked by most Americans.
Author is genuinely interested in students, education issues March 19, 2003
5 out of 7 found this review helpful
I am a classmate and friend of the author at YLS and would like to refute the earlier character-attacking review from the YLS student. While I have not had the opportunity to read through the entire book myself, I have talked with the author about education issues and his book, and have found him to be highly informed. More importantly, I feel that he has a legitimate desire to improve the plight of those children from disadvantaged backgrounds through education reform.
 Experience but not Expertise January 14, 2003
5 out of 12 found this review helpful
Johnston had a life-altering experience in the Mississippi Delta and was eager to share it. He witnessed some of the staggering problems in our educational system. But instead of being moved and challenged by his book, I grew increasingly irritated and unimpressed. How could a Yale graduate, English teacher and Grove Press author achieve publication of a work so riddled with grammatical and word usage errors? The mistakes cast doubt on Johnston's credibility as an educator and reporter. Just two examples: the repeated use of "disinterested" to mean "uninterested"; and the dozens of incorrect modifiers, such as, "Watching Corelle shuffle down the hall flanked by two security guards, a discomfort welled inside me." Like others, I too found his tone a bit self-congratulatory. Despite all, I'm glad I read the book. It covers a part of our culture one needs to know.
 A bit too patronizing November 28, 2002
6 out of 12 found this review helpful
Tear-jerking and heartstring-tugging are well and good, but I found the writing to be melodramatic and even maudlin at many points. Besides, how can someone who jumps into two years of teaching in a place he probably would have known nothing about prior to landing there really, truly, genuinely come to understand the profound cultural riches (and poverties) of that place? It would take decades, perhaps, and the intimate understanding of a native son/daughter. I am skeptical. This felt--at least on some level--like the author is capitalizing on his experiences in the Delta. It's clear they had an impact on him, but I'm not sure they really allowed him to leave behind a subtle, smarter-than-thou attitude. Perhaps the best thing about this book is that it might awaken some readers to the horrific plight faced by American public schools.
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