Exit Tickets is a grounded and unflinching look at a school year that feels both specific to 2007 New York City and familiar to anyone who has worked inside a stressed public system. Chanko captures the emotional weight teachers carry and the complicated dynamics that form when vulnerable students collide with adults who are grieving or overwhelmed. I admired the honesty in the multiple points of view and the way the novel shows how small choices ripple through a community that is already stretched thin. The atmosphere is vivid, the characters feel real, and the story raises important questions about responsibility, care, and the limits of good intentions. While the reading experience did not fully land for me on every level, I appreciated its sincerity and the effort to portray the difficult spaces where education and humanity meet.

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I love books that take you into another world you wouldn't normally get to see or experience. The author spent time as a teacher at urban schools, and it definitley shows in this book. Taking place over one school year, it follows a group of teachers, students, principals, parents and more as they navigate both the school day and all their own personal issues and challenges that take place outside of school. It was suspensful, hopeful, frustrating, and upsetting all at once.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This novel chronicles the stories of students and faculty in a New York City school. It's gritty and difficult.

this impacted me deep. Kenneth managers to both make me understand this book from an adult but also from the younger peoples perspective with thought and grace to each. there is understanding in his words that connects you to readers whether you agree with their perhaps actions in the moment or not.
i have worked with those more vulnerable in a different setting. young people who more than anything want and need like a yearning to be cared for or about, to be safe. emotions run deep and high. behaviours not excused but explainable. in this book i felt the thrum of that from the type of school setting we are learning about. it brings such close intensity to what each of the characters have to try and navigate. the connections feel somehow tighter. and you are both glad and not for this bond that forms. there is a much more taught fine line to navigate.
this book was excellent in making you an outsider with outer perceptive but also very much inside the walls with the characters too. the diverse narratives we get to view this from was just stunning and im so in awe of the shift Kenneth manages to do between voice type and age. both student and not each have their moments that shine from the pages. you cant help but feel immersed and also really care about where and how this story will play out for all involved.
there are some real gems of connection you could only get with these people and these kind of settings. one which would never fit or occur and maybe even be deemed "ok" outside of those walls and people.
i love how Kenneth didn't lay blame and especially not so on the kids with issues, because some of the time it seems it was the adults with the worst of them! there is nuance and complexities that are explored her with compassion and the no judgemental outlook they deserve. c
the education system gets a deep dive here too. and it never once feel preachy. it just is as it is. and this mirror up to some of the systems with some of our most in need was hard but authentic to read.
this book shows all walks of life and all humans yearn for stability, care and safety. young, old student and teacher. those in need, those with troubles and those in many and all roles are humans at the base line of themselves. and just how who you live, work, and be around can make all the difference. how families, love, wealth and or which system you fall in can make all the difference. can BE the difference. and often how very unfair it feels that those with the most need are often vilified and with the least help.
this was such a thoughtful and thought provoking book. i couldn't get enough and loved every moments of it. and the way it seamlessly got beneath my skin and into my heart.

This is a work of fiction that reads, in many places, like a memoir. It is a recounting of one man’s experience as a New York City school teacher in district 75, the portion of the school system that admits and teaches those students who are significantly disabled such that it is deemed that they need a setting that is different than regular public schools. This particular teacher becomes embroiled in a scandal concerning a student.
This was a well written novel with multiple perspectives. We see things, of course, from this teacher’s perspective but also from that of the student and others in the system. I think that was a wise choice, as it provides some authenticity into some of the teacher’s actions rather than possibly having an unreliable narrator who sees things only one way. The chapters were clearly marked so that the reader know who is speaking (one of my pet peeves is when it takes too much work to figure out who is narrating).
This is a debut and I think particularly for a fledgling author, this was a valiant effort. The characters were compelling and while flawed, they seemed authentic and good, even when making bad decisions. An issue that I had with the novel, which is more my own personal problem but which will impact other readers, is that it was difficult to read without inserting my own experiences. Like the author, I was a NYC school teacher for many years (twice as long as he was) and not only that, I taught Special Education, started in district 75 and was a teaching fellow (and likely not much earlier than he was). There were moments where I found myself questioning authenticity because of my own experiences, though admittedly they could have just been different. Taking off that hat though, and substituting a normal reader without such parallel experiences, there were details which seemed authentic but which would have made my eyes glaze over. In other words, there were things that were relevant to my experience but which readers without such experience might find tedious or more than they could comprehend. I wonder how much interest this book would hold for those who are not teachers and wonder where the author will go beyond this. This novel has what I think is a limited audience and in order for Mr. Chanko to have continued success, he will need to go beyond this setting.
This said, I think this was an excellent debut and I look forward to reading his sequel. Thank you to NetGalley and Luminaire Press for providing me with a copy of this novel. All of the opinions expressed herein are my own. Three and a half stars rounded to four.