CROSSING THE WATER: Eighteen Months on an Island Working with Troubled Boys—A Teacher's Memoir
Daniel Robb, . . Simon & Schuster, $24 (288pp) ISBN 978-0-7432-0238-1
Disturbing, funny and often wise, this memoir charts Robb's 18 months as a resident teacher working with troubled youth at a small progressive school on a remote, picturesque island near the Massachusetts coast. At first Robb, a writer and editor, approaches his position at the Penikese Island School as just another job, but soon his interaction with the small group of teenage boys becomes as challenging and rewarding as that of a family, transforming everyone in the process. The school administrator and Robb's fellow teachers, unswayed by the legal transgressions of the juvenile offenders, see only young boys who can be redeemed with adult supervision, hard work, clean air, healthy food, scheduled activity and fun. Robb, with a keen ear for dialogue and an instinct for telling detail, captures the humanity of each boy, thus avoiding
Reviewed on: 05/28/2001
Genre: Nonfiction
Open Ebook - 288 pages - 978-0-7432-1832-0
Paperback - 288 pages - 978-0-7432-0250-3