Ms. Hempel Chronicles (Library Edition)

<DIV>Ms. Beatrice Hempel, teacher of seventh grade, is new new to teaching, new to the school, newly engaged, and newly bereft of her idiosyncratic father. Grappling awkwardly with her newness, she struggles to figure out what is expected of her in life and at work. Is it acceptable to introduce swear words into the English curriculum, enlist students to write their own report cards, or bring up personal experiences while teaching a sex-education class?  Sarah Shun-lien Bynum finds characters at their most vulnerable, then explores those precarious moments in sharp, graceful prose. From this most innovative of young writers comes another journey down the rabbit hole to the wonderland of middle school, memory, daydreaming, and the extraordinary business of growing up.
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Stephen McLaughlin was born in Washington, DC, in 1951 and grew up there and on a farm in the Virginia Piedmont. He studied English and philosophy and worked in theater as an actor and director. He has also worked as a librarian, a musician, a landscaper, a cab driver and dispatcher, a handyman, an artist, and a waiter, among other things.

<DIV>SARAH SHUN-LIEN BYNUM's first novel, Madeleine Is Sleeping, was a finalist for the National Book Award in 2004. She was recently appointed head of the creative writing department at the University of California, San Diego. She lives in Los Angeles. </DIV>