Overview
Teach Me invites readers inside an experience that fascinates everyone—an affair between a teacher and student—and gives an up-close-and-personal answer to the question: How does this happen?
The hardcover edition of Teach Me was a Booksense Fall 2006 Kid’s Pick, a TeenReads.com Best Book of 2005, and a selection for the 2006 NYPL Books for the Teen Age.
Synopsis
Teach Me invites readers inside an experience that fascinates everyone—an affair between a teacher and student—and gives an up-close-and-personal answer to the question: How does this happen?
The hardcover edition of Teach Me was a Booksense Fall 2006 Kid's Pick, a TeenReads.com Best Book of 2005, and a selection for the 2006 NYPL Books for the Teen Age.
Publishers Weekly
Although Nelson shows courage in tackling a controversial topic-the sexual relationship between a teacher and high-school student-too much rings false in this contemporary debut novel. The affair itself seems highly improbable. Narrator Carolina, a senior who is "a little top-heavy in the sciences," takes a poetry class and falls head-over-heels in love with her English teacher, Mr. Mann, who starts visiting her at the hamburger joint where she works. One night after work he leads her behind the local Wal-Mart for the first of many make-out sessions (Mr. Mann does have the sense to wait until Carolina turns 18 before he sleeps with her). Despite the flirting that goes on at school, no one (not even Carolina's best friend Schuyler, who knows she has a crush on her teacher) suspects how far things have gone. The affair ends abruptly when Mr. Mann becomes engaged to another woman, and Carolina resorts to some childish acts of revenge. Even readers who are able to swallow the melodramatic events may have trouble believing the heroine, who is smart enough to throw out obscure references ("Keep your war girdle on, Hippolyte," she tells Schuyler), yet too naive to see that she is being victimized. The book sends a mixed message to young adults. It's unclear what, if anything, Carolina has learned from her mistakes, and in a dramatic rescue scene, Mr. Mann, who is never penalized for his sexual and emotional abuse, is cast disturbingly as a tragic hero. Ages 14-up. (Sept.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
Editorials
Publishers Weekly
Although Nelson shows courage in tackling a controversial topic-the sexual relationship between a teacher and high-school student-too much rings false in this contemporary debut novel. The affair itself seems highly improbable. Narrator Carolina, a senior who is "a little top-heavy in the sciences," takes a poetry class and falls head-over-heels in love with her English teacher, Mr. Mann, who starts visiting her at the hamburger joint where she works. One night after work he leads her behind the local Wal-Mart for the first of many make-out sessions (Mr. Mann does have the sense to wait until Carolina turns 18 before he sleeps with her). Despite the flirting that goes on at school, no one (not even Carolina's best friend Schuyler, who knows she has a crush on her teacher) suspects how far things have gone. The affair ends abruptly when Mr. Mann becomes engaged to another woman, and Carolina resorts to some childish acts of revenge. Even readers who are able to swallow the melodramatic events may have trouble believing the heroine, who is smart enough to throw out obscure references ("Keep your war girdle on, Hippolyte," she tells Schuyler), yet too naive to see that she is being victimized. The book sends a mixed message to young adults. It's unclear what, if anything, Carolina has learned from her mistakes, and in a dramatic rescue scene, Mr. Mann, who is never penalized for his sexual and emotional abuse, is cast disturbingly as a tragic hero. Ages 14-up. (Sept.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.Children's Literature
Carolina, a high school senior, has never had a serious boyfriend. When her English teacher Mr. Mann shows interest in her, they begin an intense affair. Once Mr. Mann breaks off the relationship and marries another woman, Carolina becomes obsessed. Carolina's stalking escalates until she nearly destroys not only Mr. Mann and his new wife, but also her best friend Schuyler and herself. While student-teacher relationships are a reality and should be included in young adult fiction, this one is rather unrealistic and does a grave disservice to the moral implications of the affair and the aftermath for both for Carolina and Mr. Mann. While it is interesting to make Carolina such a gray character, the book never really explores Mr. Mann's role in causing her obsession. Carolina, by the end of the book, is a borderline raving lunatic, rather than the victim, albeit willing, of an authority figure. Her friend Schuyler helps her with her stalking and revenge, but one wonders what his motivations are for aiding Carolina in such blatantly illegal actions. Mr. Mann is portrayed as a victim of not only Carolina's stalking, but also of circumstances that, according to him, are beyond his control. The plot is basically a bad "woman scorned" novel, rather than exploring the extra emotional dimension of a teacher abusing his power over a student. 2005, Penguin, Ages 14 up.—Amie Rose Rotruck