Marie-Helene Thomas

Respectful of teachers who work in impossible conditions, and respectful of pupils who live and learn in challenging environments. Reading this book is a journey through the most deprived communities north of Paris, but we’re in the company of true-to-life characters who make us feel part of their world. They make it both real and not so remote, even for someone of my generation (I’m 65), brought up in rural Brittany. They have the same hopes, the same feelings, the same fears. The biggest difference is that they have social media and can spread information, true or false, much faster and to far more people, with tragic consequences. They’re on the edge of an abyss, but again, Reverdy makes it palpable, not mythical, not inevitable. Real. I was afraid it would be like a busman’s holiday for me (I taught for over 3 decades)…but instead, it made me remember the children, how much fun we often had, how many challenges we faced together, how important it felt to be on that journey with them, even with those ‘difficult’ ones. A very well written book, but more to the point, an important one.