An honest and heartfelt account of the year Ed Boland spent teaching in a New York public school. Full of idealism and a desire to do some good in the world, he thought he would be able to make a difference, but in the end he had to admit defeat. And I can see why. The stories and incidents he relates are not for the faint-hearted and it must take a very special sort of person to cope in such schools. I think I admire him for giving up more than for trying in the first place. He makes suggestions about how the educational system could be improved to help these children, but his ideas seem as idealistic as his first impulse to teach. A deeply depressing book.