Little Miss Teacher by Cassandra O'Sullivan Sachar:
Told through the eyes of Candace Turner, a high school English teacher straight out of college, Little Miss Teacher details one woman’s struggles through the important initial stages of her career and her life as a grown-up. While teaching her students about writing and literature, Candace learns her own lessons about life. As she worries about fitting in with the faculty and conquering piles of essays to grade, Candace also pursues an old crush only to have her heart broken. Through her endless attempts to succeed in both her job and life, she has many adventures within and outside of her classroom walls. Ultimately, Candace hopes to finish the school year with a feeling of triumph at having touched the lives of her students… and having survived.
In the vein of both Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus’s The Nanny Diaries and Lauren Weisberger’s The Devil Wears Prada, Little Miss Teacher is a story about a young woman dealing with the ups and downs of work and life. In experiences that are sometimes amusing and sometimes sad, Candace endures everything from chaperoning the prom to helping a friend deal with a problem. In her earnest, self-conscious, conversational manner, Candace gives a voice and an all-access pass to the often embarrassing life of a young educator.
In the vein of both Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus’s The Nanny Diaries and Lauren Weisberger’s The Devil Wears Prada, Little Miss Teacher is a story about a young woman dealing with the ups and downs of work and life. In experiences that are sometimes amusing and sometimes sad, Candace endures everything from chaperoning the prom to helping a friend deal with a problem. In her earnest, self-conscious, conversational manner, Candace gives a voice and an all-access pass to the often embarrassing life of a young educator.
Candace is your typical "fresh out of college, new to the career world" type of character. Having only been out of college for 5 years myself, and my sister being a teacher and only out of college for 2 years, I felt that I would be able to relate to the character easily. From a character stand point I felt like I was able to relate with some of the new experiences she was facing and the insecurities about where you fit in as a newly "grown up person". I am also a recruiter for my job, and I deal with these same insecurities and questions on a daily basis when I am recruiting new college graduates.
As for the story itself, I felt like I was always hoping and waiting for an intense climax in the book. There were two times in the book where it was getting good and I felt like I didn't want to put it down, but within one page it was done. The situation was over and we were moving on. I really had hoped for a little more substance when it came to the plot and the characters. I felt like I was just looking in on a typical young person's life, which I live on a daily basis, so having just a little bit more to grasp on to would have been nice.
Over all, the book was an easy read. I have definitely recommended it to several people. Thank you to the author for letting me participate in the blog tour, and I am looking forward to her next book!
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