Books with author Michael Kupperman

It's a good thing that Violet Baudelaire has a real knack for inventing things. When misery comes to call, the right invention at the right time can mean everything. It's also fortunate that her brother, Klaus, has read lots of books and knows many important things, like how to tell an alligator from a crocodile and who killed Julius Caesar. When everything that can possibly go wrong does, a small fact can be vital. It's lucky, too, that Sunny Baudelaire, the youngest sibling, likes to bite things. Even though she is an infant, and scarcely larger than a boot, she has four very big and sharp teeth. When trouble comes along, sharp teeth can save the day. But most of all, it is good fortune that Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire are as sturdy and resilient as they are, for ahead of these three children lies a seemingly infinite series of unfortunate events.

When Michael Copperman left Stanford University for the Mississippi Delta in 2002, he imagined he would lift underprivileged children from the narrow horizons of rural poverty. Well-meaning but naïve, the Asian American from the West Coast soon lost his bearings in a world divided between black and white. He had no idea how to manage a classroom or help children navigate the considerable challenges they faced. In trying to help students, he often found he couldn't afford to give what they required--sometimes with heartbreaking consequences. His desperate efforts to save child after child were misguided but sincere. He offered children the best invitations to success he could manage. But he still felt like an outsider who was failing the children and himself.Teach For America has for a decade been the nation's largest employer of recent college graduates but has come under increasing criticism in recent years even as it has grown exponentially. This memoir considers the distance between the idealism of the organization's creed that "One day, all children in this nation will have the opportunity to attain an excellent education and reach their full potential" and what it actually means to teach in America's poorest and most troubled public schools.Copperman's memoir vividly captures his disorientation in the divided world of the Delta, even as the author marvels at the wit and resilience of the children in his classroom. To them, he is at once an authority figure and a stranger minority than even they are--a lone Asian, an outsider among outsiders. His journey is of great relevance to teachers, administrators, and parents longing for quality education in America. His frank story shows that the solutions for impoverished schools are far from simple.

Sixteen-year-old Soliloquy’s life is anything but normal. Deserted by a mother who speaks in tongues. Informally adopted by her boyfriend’s family that owns a tequila distillery and agave farm. Visited by strange dreams filled with coded message and premonition. She is not your typical teenager. But when three alien spacecraft attack the farm, her life takes a twist down the proverbial rabbit hole.Driven into ice caves beneath the farm, she learns strange secrets about her mother, the family she is with, and the invading aliens. Nothing is what it seemed. Yet to survive, she and the family must transform in a way that will change them forever. Their response over the next twenty-four hours will have repercussions far beyond their little farm. For them, it is world war with their farm as the beachhead.

Sixteen-year-old Soliloquy’s life is anything but normal. Deserted by a mother who speaks in tongues. Informally adopted by her boyfriend’s family that owns a tequila distillery and agave farm. Visited by strange dreams filled with coded message and premonition. She is not your typical teenager. But when three alien spacecraft attack the farm, her life takes a twist down the proverbial rabbit hole.Driven into ice caves beneath the farm, she learns strange secrets about her mother, the family she is with, and the invading aliens. Nothing is what it seemed. Yet to survive, she and the family must transform in a way that will change them forever. Their response over the next twenty-four hours will have repercussions far beyond their little farm. For them, it is world war with their farm as the beachhead.