Bruce Ingram is a high-school English teacher and lifelong outdoorsman who has written five well-reviewed river guides set in his native Virginia. Tenth Grade Angst is his second novel.
KIRKUS REVIEW
Four ninth-graders navigate demanding teachers, family conflicts,
and new relationships in a debut novel for young teens.
It's the first day of school for four ninth-graders. Introvert Luke
dreads it. Cocky athlete Marcus can't wait to make his mark in a
football game. Well-to-do Elly and hardworking Mia are eager to
excel. The lives of the teens intersect in first period Honors
English, and as the year progresses, all four narrate their own
journeys through the highs and lows of teachers, family,
friendships, and dates. Elly, a white girl, fears that she'll never
have a boyfriend because she thinks she's "chubby." When a first,
clandestine date ends in a sloppy kiss, she worries she'll never
find real romance. Luke, also white, has internalized the low
expectations of those who see only his poverty and dysfunctional
family. His English teacher recognizes his potential; a science
instructor makes him a target of ridicule. (Ingram, an English high
school teacher, doesn't sugarcoat the fact that some instructors
don't belong in the profession.) Black teen Marcus, from a well-off
family, is used to being admired on and off the football field and
doesn't understand why his self-absorption is a turnoff. Mia, a
second-generation Mexican-American, has faced prejudice and is
determined to prove "I belong here." A sweetly blossoming
relationship between Luke, whose father is a bigot, and Mia, whose
dad distrusts whites, seems destined to make them the Romeo and
Juliet of the group. Ingram approaches this territory with a
knowing and sympathetic eye, giving each teen an authentic voice
expressed in a lively flow of alternating, journal-style chapters.
(At one point Marcus muses: "I can't believe Joshua's attitude,
it's like he's given up on pro football. It seems like everybody I
was around last week had a negative attitude.") For gritty content,
readers should look elsewhere--no sex, drugs, or binge-drinking
here. But these teens' everyday interactions, doubts, and triumphs
ring true, and readers should want to find out what happens to them
next in Ingram's upcoming second novel, Tenth Grade Angst.
An author deftly mines his own experiences as a teacher to create
diverse and relatable characters facing their first year in high
school.
Ask a Question About this Product More... |