Weeks before the assassination of Martin Luther King, Allen Greene, a directionless young white man who never intended to be a teacher, finds himself in a Watts classroom, standing before thirty black seventh-grade girls. After a trial-by-fire first day that includes run-ins with violent students and ominous warnings from faculty members, Allen doubts his ability to follow through on the whole venture. He finds some encouragement from unexpected places: a teen mother who is unjustly accused of striking a teacher, a low-achieving gang member with an unexpected gift for poetry, and an elderly...

Based on real events, Grey Pine is a gripping story of one man's struggle to survive amidst the chaos of the forces of nature and the inner workings of a troubled mind. On May 18, 1980, the eruption of Mount Saint Helens captured the attention of America. The communities east of the Cascade Mountains were woefully unprepared for the devastation and disruption that followed, transforming for many a bright spring day into a murky, twenty-hour night. Grey Pine is the story of Phillip Stark, a bright and innovative young science teacher who attempts to treat the ash fall as an opportunity for...

Man versus Nature or man versus his own nature-which is the greater battle? Belagana-Belazana (Bilagaana-Bilasaana) and its central character make no pretense of understanding the Navajo people, but the story is reminiscent of the blunt social issues in Sherman Alexie's novels set on a different Indian reservation. Sean Noland-a middle-aged, recently-divorced high school teacher takes a job teaching English at a remote U.S. Government Indian school in the Navajo Nation in Northern Arizona. An outsider to the Navajo as well as his employer, Sean begins to bond with at-risk youth...