Touching, truthful, and at times: gut-wrenching, this little book shines a light on the virtual schooling experiences of teachers and students in 2020. It’s a clever idea (and a great literary exercise!) to boil a thought or experience down to 6 words. I want to share this book with my 3 teens who suffered through an entire YEAR of online learning.
Highly recommend.

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. I love these 6-word memoirs about the year of Covid. Some are hysterical, some are sad, and some are melancholy.

Amazing, amazing endevour to describe the last year in six words. Some of the descriptions are funny, some poignant, some sad, but all of them remind you of the year that went by.

I'd love to have a print copy of this book one day.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

The six word story format works!

This collection of stories and reflections was a relatable read. As a teacher and parent, I recalled my own experiences from 2020 while reading their experiences. The stories in this book brought forth a variety of emotions: laughter, sadness, sympathy, and understanding. The educator essays and illustrations from art students added to this book.

A fabulous collection of 6 word memoirs that encapsulates the 2020-2021 era with levity, poignant introspection, and brevity. I found myself nodding to several of the student and teacher synopses of the pandemic. A great read and starting point for readers to talk about perspectives and our emotional well-being.

A Terrible, Horrible No Good Year: Hundreds of Stories on the Pandemic is a collection of six word memoirs and a few essays on the events of 2020 from students, teachers and parents. It shows the sadness, frustration and in some cases relief around lockdown, the COVID virus and how the world changed in that time.

It is poignant, often funny, and highly relatable. I especially loved the stories by the students, and then the follow-up response from their parents or teachers. I felt this gave a clearer persepective and was often funny too.

I highly recommend this book as a fun and clever way to reflect back on a year that was hard but at times gave us great insight and maybe even a little bit of joy.

This book really spoke to me and I'm thoroughly glad I read it. There were stories I could relate to.

This is a fabulous little book about using strategic words in order to write a personal memoir using only six words. A lot of thought has to go into using the "best" words in order to get one's message across. This book was thoroughly enjoyable and ranged from sorrowful to inspiring. I would like to use this approach with the students in my classroom. Thank you to Netgalley for this free ebook in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this.

This is a heartfelt book outlining what the pandemic was like for children, educators and parents. A lot can be said in six words, and it is something that we all felt and still feel during this time.

I'd not heard of the six word memoirs before but I won't be forgetting it any time soon. It is clear that the words are so carefully chosen by all of those whose work has been included in this book. Six words can tell an awful lot more than you'd think possible. I am definitely going to try this with the children at school.

A TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE, NO GOOD YEAR from Six-Word Memoirs is filled with "Hundreds of Stories on the Pandemic by Teachers, Students & Parents." Have you ever tried writing a six word memoir? It definitely requires some skill and readers of this collection will be admiring (and relating to!) the work it contains. There are so many favorites from which to choose; here are a few:
- You’re a primary source. Take notes. - Rachel Klein, teacher
- It goes over your nose, pal. – Stina Perkins
- Finally, I can mute my teacher. – Darshana Chandler, 10
- We all took 2019 for granted. – Lexus P.
- Teaching is hard. Remote teaching harder. – Ellis Reyes, teacher.
- It’s all about showing you care. – Samantha Tanner, teacher.
The collection includes some beautiful drawings and commentary from editor Larry Smith, and other contributors like Michelle Wolff, a suburban English teacher from Michigan, who explains, “Technology Made Things Harder, Then Easier.” A TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE, NO GOOD YEAR is the tenth book in the series and its publishers call it a “time capsule.” In fact, The New York Times recently offered the idea as an exercise on its Learning Network, publishing some results a few days later. Enjoy!

New York Times Links:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/22/learning/how-would-you-describe-your-pandemic-experience-in-six-words.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/28/learning/students-describe-their-pandemic-experience-in-six-word-memoirs.html

This was such a heartfelt book outlining what the pandemic was like for children, educators, and parents. A lot can be said in six words! I think this was a creative take on the topic and meaningful.

Book received for free through NetGalley

Before seeing this book I hadn't heard of the Six-Word Memoirs before so this was my introduction to the idea.

For regular reading this is, and I'm assuming other Six-Word Memoir books, are perfect to read a bit each day. I love the images in some and it's a great way to feel less lonely with other people's perspective in a glimpse at their six-word look into the "Terrible, Horrible, No Good Year".

For a teacher, group leader, or anyone looking into writing material for kids, teens, etc I could see this being a great reference book while getting yourself or them to focus their ideas into only six-words.

Overall a good book and reference.

Thank you to Netgalley for an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I haven't heard of six word memoirs before but thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and insight into the thoughts of kids and teachers during the pandemic. It opened my eyes and challenged my thoughts on how i thought the kids were coping or how 'privileged' they may be to have zoom class and not have to go to school. It changed my perspective a lot and i highly recommend the book.

As a former teacher, I’m no stranger to 6-word memoirs — I wasn’t sure this book would be anything too unique. However, I’m happy to say I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I had things to do, but couldn’t stop reading and finished it all in one sitting. Numerous students contributed their 6-word memoirs, and there were enough heavy, light and funny ones to make this readable without feeling sad. The memoirs are grouped by topic, with some art pieces included, along with some short accounts of teaching or learning in the pandemic. My favorite story was about a teacher figuring out how to teach her students in a juvenile detention facility who already had so many constraints. Although I no longer teach, I found this enlightening and interesting to read. No stories are about any personal deaths due to covid. It mostly centers around learning in the pandemic and dealing with home isolation.
Thanks to NetGalley for a copy.

This was such a unique book, and I enjoyed it a lot. It was my first time hearing about the Six-Word Memoirs, and I was intrigued. It was emotional and heartwarming, and I liked reading about so many people's experiences with remote learning, and how the pandemic has changed the scope of education for the foreseeable future.

I enjoyed the short witty six-word entries, as well as the long-form essays.

This was a worthwhile read and I would definitely recommend it.

What a terrific little book! There is so much insight and inspiration in these 6-word memoirs from writers across the education spectrum: children of all ages and grades, teachers, administrators, parents. It’s an easy way to understand the feelings, worries, despair and joys of those who lost a year (at minimum) of “normal” schooling, some meeting for classes face-to-face on an impersonal , 2-dimensional screen or in classrooms spread 6 feet apart and masked, instructed to fear each other because the virus lurked everywhere. All lost out on tactile learning, camaraderie, friendship, teamwork, and so much more. These very short stories contain few words but carry the weight of experience. They are accessible, digestible, and enlightening. Some of my favorites:

I taught math; they taught resiliency.

Finally, I can mute my teacher.

Internet down: the new “snow day.”

This was just one big emotional rollercoaster.

I’m inspired to write my own collection of 6-word memoirs!

A great idea and a great start, but after a while, it just felt repetitive. I think the mixing of the stories by ages was a great idea because it gave you variety on each page; however, I think less would have actually been more powerful here.

This is an awesome resource for any teacher.

I loved seeing the work of students, and we now do six word memoirs in the classroom.

Kids love and are engaged by the assignment.

I had an ARC of this book from NetGalley. Oh my I didn’t know what I was getting into. It was so moving, tears in my eyes. I was a substitute teacher during the pandemic on Zoom, then hybrid, then in person. I’m now a school counselor and seeing the aftermath of our time in quarantine.
These kids and adults were honest. It was real and funny and sad all in one. I love the six word memoirs, what a brilliant idea. This book was amazing.