The Stuck truck
Henry Anker, Job Lopez
Paperback
(Independently published, Aug. 11, 2020)
In this brief story, travel along the highway from Washington State to California with two truckers, Sal and Vince, who share their memories of high school. Witness how these two men deal with challenges they encounter along the way. The author, Henry Anker, was born and raised in the Los Angeles area, where he worked unloading trucks and stocking shelves in a grocery store, paying his way through college, prior to becoming a public school teacher. He has taught elementary, middle, and high school students, as well as technology skills for over 30 years. Henry Anker has a free educational website, www.henryanker.com, that has drawn more that 20 million views. Henry Anker is the parent of a son with high-functioning autism who has friends, is attending college, has a job, and a driver's license. The story of "The Stuck Truck" is autobiographical of many of his, and his lifelong friend James', own experiences and beliefs about friendship, work ethic, mentoring, problem solving, patience, persistence, and empathy toward others. The story is driven by dialog, helping young readers hear the voices of people who were recently their age, and how they look at life in their twenties. In the story, the truckers initiate and carry on conversations with other characters they meet in a variety of situations.