ridiculous/hilarious/terrible/cool: A Year in an American High School

I recently had the pleasure of reading the book ridiculous/hilarious/terrible/cool:
A Year in an American High School by Elisha Cooper.

Elisha spent a year at a Chicago high school chronicling the lives of eight students – six seniors and two juniors. And then he wrote ridiculous/hilarious/terrible/cool: A Year in an American High School about these students’ big games, bad dates, and applications to college – basically, about their lives.

The author says "A teacher friend at Walter Payton College Preparatory High School, in downtown Chicago, introduced me to the students. The students – six seniors and two juniors – were kind enough to let me follow them around with a notebook. We talked about upcoming games, drama with friends, pregnancy scares, and college applications. Their stories made the book what it is: part documentary, part sketchbook, part something else. The book is also a journal of the day-to-day life of a high school, from Phys Ed to prom. Lastly, this being Chicago, it’s a story about weather.

I have a great deal of appreciation for the students’ openness in sharing their lives with me. I had fun writing this book (though I still have trouble saying the title!). Mostly, though, I loved the reporting – going to football games, homecoming dances, or just talking with a student in the halls after English class."

I ,for one, really liked this book. I enjoyed getting to know the students, their likes, fears, and joys. I think the book was so much more enjoyable knowing that these were real people and not just made up characters.

This book would make a perfect Christmas gift for a tween who is about to go to high school to get and inside glimpse of what that life is like. Or the parent of a child who is in high school. Please visit the authors website at http://www.elishacooper.com/index.html to learn more about this book and others he has written.

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