Review: Teacher, Teacher! by Jack Sheffield
The 1970s. A small village school. And a young, inexperienced headmaster who's in for quite a year.
Subscribe for free to Gentle Reads Fiction to get recommendations of uplifting stories that have very little to no profanity and no explicit sex or graphic violence.
Small-Town Fiction
Teacher, Teacher! by Jack Sheffield
Description
It’s the late 1970s, and Jack Sheffield is appointed headmaster of a small village primary school in North Yorkshire. So begins Jack’s eventful journey through the school year and his attempts to overcome the many problems that face him as a young and inexperienced headmaster.
My Thoughts
On my continuing search for gentle reads, I came across this autobiographical novel set in a fictional village, and I settled into the feel-good nature of it.
The Quirks, the Laughs, the Romance
The novel has got quirky small-town folks and some truly laugh-out-loud moments along with cozier ones, sprinkled with poignancy. For real, one of the most empathetic scenes had me blinking back tears. There’s also a little thread of romance woven into Jack’s school year.
The Bigot, the Fortune-teller, the Potty Mouth
Granted, not every minute here is full of warm fuzzies, including Jack’s face-off with a bigoted parent who has a problem with a new international student who gets admitted into the school. And there’s a fortune-telling scene that I admittedly skipped—not my thing.
On the lighter side, I might have done a bit of blushing at some (chuckle-worthy) potty-mouthing from one of the little schoolchildren, though Jack is obliged to bleep-out the child’s choice word for the reader’s sake.
Continuing the Series?
Overall, I found this to be relaxing reading about a lead who enjoys his chosen, valuable vocation. And the ending of the story is downright beautiful. As this is the first book in a series, I plan on checking out more of it.
Content Note
A brief moment that’s meant to be a light one refers to two men looking like minstrels, due to their faces being blackened after they fix a boiler. The reference wasn’t funny to me, but again, the moment was brief, and there’s no actual blackface in the story.
Like what you see here?
You’re welcome to check out the books I write: fiction of hope and inspiration, featuring diverse and uncommon lead characters in a medley of genres.
