The primary aim of the "Novel Excerpts" blog category is to showcase my creative writing, specifically from the novels I've written. Hopefully, these posts will provide a glimpse into my storytelling style, themes, and narrative skills. It's an opportunity to share my artistic expressions and the worlds I've created through my novels.
The Boaz Schoolteacher, written in 2018, is my fifth novel. I'll post a chapter a day over the next few weeks.
Book Blurb
In the summer of 2017, Katie Sims and her daughter Cullie, moved from New York City to Katie’s hometown of Boaz, Alabama for her to teach English and for Cullie to attend Boaz High School . Fifteen years earlier, during the Christmas holidays, five men from prominent local families sexually assaulted Katie. Nine months later, Katie’s only daughter was born.
Almost from the beginning of the new school year, as Katie and fellow-teacher Cindy Barker shared English, Literature, and Creative Writing duties for more than 300 students, they became lifelong friends.
For weeks, Katie and Cindy endured the almost constant sexual harassment at the hands of the assistant principal. In mid-October, after Cindy suffered an attack similar to Katie’s from fifteen years earlier, the two teachers designed a unique method to teach the six predators a lesson they would never forget. Katie and Cindy dubbed their plan, Six Red Apples.
Read this mystery-thriller to experience the dilemma the two teachers created for themselves, and to learn the true meaning of real justice. And, eternal friendship.
Chapter 3
“Literature will change your life for the better if you will give it a chance.” I said leaning back against the giant old desk and facing a room full of tenth graders virtually unaware of my presence. Half the class wasn’t even looking at me, peering into their cell phones instead.
“I will not ask you to put away your phones, to sit up straight, to look at me, to listen. That will be up to you. If you prefer to eat bologna at your desk while I am serving filet mignon up here, that’s not a problem. It will just be more for the few of you who will be both present and hungry.”
A red-haired, pimpled faced young man in the back stood up and started walking towards my desk. “I’m hungry right now for that steak. Where’s the beef?” The class belched out a roar that would send Mr. Harrison, the high school principal, into the room if he were walking the halls within a hundred feet.
“Come on up. You are Ben Gilbert. Right?” I said glancing at my roster.
“That’s right.” Ben said, already standing before me, his face turning red as he realized he was making a fool of himself.
“Sit here if you like.” I said, pointing to a chair beside my desk that faced the classroom. Ben sat without a word as though he was being seated at a restaurant. I walked to a microwave in the corner of the classroom that was almost hidden behind a huge bookcase filled with books I would loan to anyone who promised to read. I opened the microwave’s door and removed a plate. Walking back towards Ben, I said, “Here’s your filet mignon and a sharp steak knife. I hope you enjoy it. I’m so pleased you were willing to act on your hunger this morning.” Half the class stood to see if I had given a real steak to Ben.
“Thanks Ben for giving us our first lesson of the day.” I walked to the blackboard behind my desk and wrote, ‘Literature builds experience.’ Turning to the class I said, “Most of you probably have heard that experience is the greatest teacher. That seems to argue that the more experiences you have the smarter you will become. There is just one problem. Does anyone know what it is?” I said walking to the long row of windows next to the outer wall.
“It takes a lot of time.” A plumb, purple-haired girl said from the desk in the far corner.
“Excellent response Joanie.” Thankful that I had taken the time to study last year’s Annual.
“Literature is a time-saver. If you will read, then you will gain experience. In a few hours with a book you can learn lesson after lesson the protagonist took a lifetime to learn.”
“What’s a protagonist?” Ben said with a mouthful of steak.
“It’s the main character in a story.” I said looking over the entire class, not seeing a single student peering into a cell phone. Several had gathered around Ben asking for him to share his treasure.
“So, if I have a lot of experiences, whether real or virtual, then I’ll automatically be the brightest bulb in the room?” Clara Ellington said from the front desk in the center row clearly in the running for teacher’s pet.
“Great question Clara. What do you think the answer is?”
“It doesn’t seem to follow, not naturally. I say something is missing.” She said sitting up even straighter in her chair if that was possible, pressing her designer eyeglasses upward a little on her nose.
“And, great answer also. Experience alone is insufficient for true learning. It is a vital ingredient, but you also need to add in a heavy dose of thinking. Now we are at the heart of Literature, the greatest benefit of all.”
“Thinking, Literature will teach me to think, teach me how to think?” Clara transformed her statement into a question.
“Exactly. When you read the story of our protagonist, let’s call him Bill, taking the subway in New York City every day from the ghetto to Brooklyn and high school, what is he learning? Let’s say he sees a preppy young man that gets on the train in Queens, all dressed up and carrying a briefcase. After a few days the two begin to talk. Bill learns Bob is a lawyer who lived in a series of foster homes most of his teenage years but, through hard work, determination, and a little luck, overcame the obstacles that kept most young men his age and in his position, down and out. If Bill will think about Bob and what happened to him, he might begin to believe there is a chance he can overcome his homelessness. Bob’s experience gave Bill hope mainly because he engaged his mind and didn’t let his circumstances drive his emotional despair.”
“That was awesome Miss Sims. I’ll be hungry for more in the morning.” Ben said as the class again erupted in laughter.
“I suspect you were referring to the mignon. There will be an all you can eat steak supper at my place in the country for every student who pursues Literature this next year like you were a starving man. Or woman.”
The students stayed fully engaged the remainder of the period. It was a good first class and a good way to begin my teaching career at Boaz High School in the fall of 2016. I sure hoped my third teaching job would be as rewarding as the six years I had spent at Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Brooklyn, New York, teaching AP English Literature and Composition, and the eight years before that teaching English Literature, Poetry, and Creative Writing, at Marymount High School in Los Angeles, California.
The Pencil Driven Life 