As some of you know, I’m a voracious reader. For better or for worse, my reading is probably 99% non-fiction these days, especially articles I’m reading on my laptop or iPad. Still, I see the value in old-school reading involving – gasp – a book printed on actual paper. So, I decided that every week I ought to use the #YouShouldRead hashtag to give away some copies of some of the best books that I’ve had the pleasure of reading!
Today’s giveaway involves a book with one of the best titles ever. Why Do Only White People Get Abducted by Aliens?: Teaching Lessons from the Bronx is an incredibly compelling read from a good friend, Ilana Garon – and by compelling, I mean that I’ve read it 1.5 times already, and it’s only been out for 2, 3 months.
Why Do Only White People Get Abducted by Aliens? is the true story of Ilana’s attempts, as a young teacher, to change lives in a very troubled educational system. Ilana wrote this book, in part, because popular books and movies are inundated with the myth of the “hero teacher”—the one who charges headfirst into dysfunctional inner-city schools like a firefighter into an inferno, bringing the student victims to safety through a combination of charisma and innate righteousness. The students are then “saved” by the teacher’s idealism, empathy, and faith. This is not that type of book.
In Why Do Only White People Get Abducted by Aliens?, Ilana reveals the sometimes humorous, oftentimes frustrating, and occasionally horrifying truths that accompany the experience of teaching at a public high school in the Bronx. The overcrowded classrooms, lack of textbooks, and abundance of mice, cockroaches, and drugs are just part of what she had to deal with on an everyday basis.
To be entered to win: simply tweet – or Facebook post (just make sure it’s a public post so we can find it) anything you want – you can link back to this piece, or tweet why reading is important, and so on – but make sure to include the #YouShouldRead hashtag. There will be THREE winners of this awesome book – I’ll keep entries open until midnight. Good luck!
