A classroom of skeptical students and their charismatic teacher make a
foray into the nation's past. The characters are fictive; the
history--most importantly, the vision of history, grounded in a dying
but immortal dream--is real.
History teacher Kevin Lee is retiring from Seneca Falls High School,
where he has worked for the past forty years. He decides to use the
freedom of his pending exit to toss the state curriculum and teach the
U.S. survey as the story of the alluring, inspiring, murderous concept
we know as the American Dream--which, he understands, his students
regard with justified, if instinctive, skepticism. Lee discusses the
rise, fall, and legacy of the Dream with these smart, funny, and
irreverent eleventh graders, in a narrative peppered with memos, email
exchanges, text messages, student journalism, and other documents from
beyond the walls of his classroom. The result is the best history class
you never had.
A chronological history of the United States, this compelling novel also
offers a snapshot of American education, written by a veteran teacher
who slices through the arid literature of pedagogy to vividly depict the
life of the classroom. Finally, it offers a deeply affectionate and
patriotic vision of American life--one fully aware of the nation's
limits and failures while honoring the longings so many of us have to
believe in our country, even as we harbor deepening doubts about our
nation.
