Saved by the Bell [August Challenge 2026]

Russell, Rachael, and Rachel discuss the August Reading Challenge, Saved by the Bell, reading books about a teacher or set in a school. We discuss a wide variety of genres through all age groups and explore the many nostalgic sensations associated with the back to school season.

Books/Authors we discuss include:

• “Matilda” by Roald Dahl
• “The Fourth Stall” by Chris Rylander
• “Janitors” by Tyler Whitesides
• “Project Hail Mary” by Andy Weir
• “My Teacher Is an Alien” by Bruce Coville
• “Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow” by Jessica Townsend
• “Educated” by Tara Westover
• “The Stranger Diaries” by Elly Griffiths
• “The Magicians” by Lev Grossman
• “A Deadly Education” by Naomi Novik
• “The Love Hypothesis” by Ali Hazelwood
• “Girl Dinner” by Olivie Blake
• “The Secret History” by Donna Tartt
• “Dead Poets Society” by N.H. Kleinbaum
• “A Lesson Before Dying” by Ernest J. Gaines
• “Under the Bayou Moon” by Valerie Fraser Luesse

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:02

You are listening to Russell Reads with the Rachels, brought to you by Danville Public Library. I'm Russell.

SPEAKER_02 0:07

I'm Rachel. And I'm also Rachel.

SPEAKER_01 0:09

And school's back in session. So we are in our August challenge. And August now, this is all right. We're gonna inevitably date ourselves on this show. So prepare yourselves mentally. But August, our August challenge is Saved by the Bell.

SPEAKER_02 0:31

Saved by the Bell.

SPEAKER_01 0:32

So you wake up in the morning.

SPEAKER_02 0:35

We should have started with that theme music. Oh my god.

SPEAKER_01 0:39

You guys want to start over? I'll re-record.

SPEAKER_03 0:40

I'll get a copyright and get copyright struck.

SPEAKER_01 0:46

August is now back to school. I will say that mentally I am never. That's not right. No. September.

SPEAKER_02 0:53

After Labor Day. Yeah. After Labor Day.

SPEAKER_01 0:56

So but we adjusted. We adjusted for generations of now. It's always interesting to see how the always like the world is represented in the advertising. So like when you start getting the ads for Target's back to school specials, and you see the what's the design this year? Where's the pink and green tiger? You know, like Lisa Franks.

SPEAKER_04 1:27

Yes. Uh so yeah. Yeah, so back to school.

SPEAKER_01 1:30

So our challenge was to read a book that occurred in a school setting.

SPEAKER_02 1:35

We didn't specify what level having to do with a teacher.

SPEAKER_01 1:39

Yeah, or having to do with a teacher. Which broadens it a little bit because are there a lot of books that have to do with a teacher that's not in school?

SPEAKER_02 1:46

Yes. Yes. I have several. Fantastic.

SPEAKER_01 1:49

What a great start. Yay! So uh that's our challenge this month. Uh for all of you preparing, all you teachers who are weeping into your uh water bottles. Uh welcome back to work. Uh some kids, my kids are excited. I think they've been bored all summer, so they're ready to get back and see that. I always liked open house was my favorite because A, you got a new pair of pants. Um, B, you wore those pants and it was really hot. And you're like, I'm wearing my pants to school because these are brand new. Gotta show off my new threads.

SPEAKER_02 2:26

What's your I have a question for both of you. What's your favorite school supply smell?

SPEAKER_03 2:33

We we don't have a sense of smell either of us.

SPEAKER_00 2:37

I was like John's fired, brother.

SPEAKER_03 2:40

That's so funny. If our listeners didn't know, Rachel did know that, but if our listeners didn't know, we just learned Rachel and Russell don't have a sense of smell.

SPEAKER_01 2:50

I have a favorite back to school.

SPEAKER_02 2:51

I didn't know that I knew that though. I knew you were olfactory challenged, but like I didn't know it was that severe. So Russell number two never had one.

SPEAKER_01 3:02

No, yeah, I can smell like ammonia.

SPEAKER_03 3:05

Oh.

SPEAKER_01 3:06

Like, but I don't know if I can smell it or if I can sense it.

SPEAKER_03 3:09

Or taste it. I know this sounds dramatic. I'm with you. This sounds dramatic, but I can smell danger still. I can still sense rot or chemical or that kind of thing. Also, I used to have a sense of smell. So maybe um, I think I really liked what glue smelled like. And I know that sounds crazy. I love that. Like a little bit back to school.

SPEAKER_01 3:37

Back to school supply shopping tastes like okay, yeah. Go. Rubbery popcorn. We had a store here called Ames, and you got popcorn, and so it was free, and so you got popcorn or Kmart. You know, you got free popcorn at Kmart.

SPEAKER_02 3:55

Oh, not freshly sharpened number two pencils, no, or the plastic, the off the off-gassing of plastic from a trapper keeper. Those would be my two favorites.

SPEAKER_01 4:05

No, but new rubber, new rubber erasers rubbed on my cheeks.

SPEAKER_02 4:08

Oh, there we go. I should say, what's your favorite back to school feel?

SPEAKER_01 4:12

Feel tactile.

SPEAKER_02 4:14

What did you like to rub on your face?

SPEAKER_01 4:16

Yeah, Malma erasers. That was good. Okay. That was a good time.

SPEAKER_02 4:20

That was fun. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 4:22

So uh I think we probably have a good smattering of different levels of schools.

SPEAKER_02 4:27

So uh who wants to should we start with like elementary school and then go up to middle school, high school, and beyond?

SPEAKER_00 4:35

I guess we could do that.

SPEAKER_02 4:36

That's I like that. That's a fun thing. Something a little different. Let's do it structured. I like it. Okay, so I have Matilda. Does anyone have anything younger than Matilda?

SPEAKER_01 4:45

No, I don't think that's she's first grade?

SPEAKER_03 4:48

Yeah, definitely like lower elementary school. I think I'm all except for one, I'm all high school and obey. Okay, excellent.

SPEAKER_02 4:56

Well, Matilda by Rule Tis. So good. Gotta start with my girl Matilda. Um, I remember reading this as a young, young child um and falling in love with the character of Matilda and then rereading it to my kids and really relating more to Miss Honey, the teacher, you know, as you do. You grow up and you're like, oh, now I relate to this kid.

SPEAKER_01 5:20

If you're a good person, I'm I'm Miss Trenchable.

SPEAKER_02 5:24

I have a Miss Trenchable story. One time I was in the library and I was wearing an outfit that I thought was like really sharp. I was like looking good, you know, had a a dress on with a big belt, and I had my hair back and a cool bun. This is as an adult. Yes, this was just a few years ago at the Mount Herman Library when I worked there. And a kid came up to me and went, Whoa, you look Mike Miss Trenchbulk. And I cried, and I never wore that belt again because apparently I look like a walking rectangle.

SPEAKER_00 5:56

Like the weightlifting belt.

SPEAKER_02 5:57

Yes, it was a little too thick.

SPEAKER_00 5:59

Oh my gosh. That's amazing.

SPEAKER_02 6:02

Love it. Read it, watch the movie, watch the show, the musical on stage. Beautiful.

SPEAKER_01 6:07

Yeah. If you have not read Ruald Doll, you you need to, and you should start there because that's a good stuff.

SPEAKER_03 6:14

It is all the book love, library love, school love, good stuff. There's a podcast that came out a few months ago called The Secret, The Secret Life of Roll Doll or The Secret History of Rolled Doll or something. It's all about like when he was a spy and stuff like that. So it was pretty interesting too.

SPEAKER_01 6:32

What an interesting man lived an interesting life. Interesting life. So I you guys know I love middle school, but this is okay. Here we go. Rabbit hole number seven. I isn't it weird? I haven't been in high school in 20 over 20 some years, like 25 years. But like, why if I think of a memory, it's usually from those years. Like, do I not have any memories between have I've been asleep for this long?

SPEAKER_02 7:01

They're formative years.

SPEAKER_01 7:02

It's so weird. So I love middle school uh books, middle grade books, um, because I relate, I guess, with the humor. Um, so this one actually came recommended from a teacher friend of mine. It's called The Fourth Stall by Chris Rylander. I wish you could see the cover.

SPEAKER_03 7:21

Does the cover look like the um what is that, The Godfather?

SPEAKER_01 7:24

Yes, yes, it does.

SPEAKER_03 7:26

Uh so it's just that it's a roll of toilet paper? Yes.

SPEAKER_01 7:31

Uh it does. It looks like The Godfather. It's a Godfather story. Uh, this kid uh in he's a sixth grader, runs this like I can I can solve your problem service out of the bathroom. Um, and so he's he I want to read this.

SPEAKER_02 7:48

It's very speaking he's a fixer.

SPEAKER_01 7:51

Yes, he's a fixer. Uh a new guy in town shows up, and he's an eighth grader, and uh this guy is like the fixer that is just you love him so he doesn't get in too much trouble, but the other guy's like doing highly illegal things, and so yeah, it's great. There's like three of these, definitely read them, and then also Tyler Whiteside's janitors. Oh I every time I talk about this book, not a lot of people have read it, but it's basically like the janitor in the school turns out to be some kind of I'm gonna say zookeeper because that's what I relate it to, but like he cat captures all these strange animals. Uh so you guys like Hagrid. Uh yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:40

I mean, I think that's I think that's although Hagrid wasn't he wasn't a janitor. I'm thinking of the other guy. Anyways, the guy with the cat. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:49

He was not he was not great. Oh no. Yeah, so these are great. There's all these creatures in it, and then there's like this whole society of janitors, and they, you know, save the world by capturing these creatures. That's cool.

SPEAKER_02 9:00

I like the cover on that. That's that's really cool.

SPEAKER_01 9:03

Yeah, so there's three or four of those, I think. So those are my those are two of my picks. I could go on and on and on for middle grade, but we don't have that kind of time.

SPEAKER_03 9:13

Okay. Um, so I have one that I think the teacher is a younger grade teacher. The Project Hail Mary teacher is Island Grace's middle school, right? So, okay. Um, so I read Project Hail Mary. Oh, it's so good just recently, and uh it Amaze, Amaze. It's a great book. Uh it is by Andy Weir, who also wrote The Martian. It is so much better than The Martian. And the people that like The Martian say that too. It it's much more realized.

SPEAKER_01 9:53

I'm looking forward to this one. I just watched Gabriel uh consume it like without taking a breath. So yeah, I'm excited.

SPEAKER_03 10:02

Yeah, it's it's just really good. The character um Ryland Grace is he is an a middle school teacher, uh, but he's also written some papers about certain scientific theories that he has um that then um play into him needing to help save the world, basically. Um but most of the story is him stranded in space. Um and then there's also an alien creature who is one of the most incredible characters ever written. Um and there is there's a movie that recently came out, so a good opportunity to read a book and then watch a movie. Um, I think that's always fun to you know be able to have that expanded media.

SPEAKER_01 10:47

Yeah, it's also nice when it's when it's good. Yeah, like when it's a good thing.

SPEAKER_03 10:51

I was just gonna say it's nice when it does it justice and isn't a travesty. I do understand. I haven't watched it yet, but I do understand it too, have been a really good adaptation.

SPEAKER_02 11:01

Do you think they cast Ryan Gosling in the care in the lead because Ryland Grace, Ryan Gosling is very similar name? I think it's a really good theory. Um we'll go with that.

SPEAKER_03 11:13

Yeah you heard it here first, but there you go.

SPEAKER_01 11:15

Uncovering the mysteries.

SPEAKER_03 11:17

It has the best ending. It's it just ends perfectly. Sweet. You know, you worry, because I'm I do I do need the book to turn out the way I expect and want it to. Same. And um I didn't know what to expect how the book ended, but it ends perfect. It's great through and through. Um, highly recommend, especially for fans of like fun and exciting, hard science fiction, like Jurassic Park, or you know, like Andy Wear's other books or Blake Crouch books. It's got a lot of science, but you can understand it, and it's still fun and exciting as well.

SPEAKER_01 11:55

Yeah, sometimes I read a book recently that was got into the really science-y talk, and I'm like, okay, this is let's find something else. What's your next, Rachel?

SPEAKER_02 12:06

Um, well, I don't know. Are we are we moving up? No. Are we done with middle school?

SPEAKER_01 12:11

No, I I got I need to, I'm not gonna go too deep in this because it's an old book. Bruce Cobbles, there's a whole series. My teacher is an alien. It's my favorite as a kid. Still, I recently reread it. Um you need to pick that up. I don't know what this falls under. Uh, so Jessica Townsend, Nevermore, The Trials of Morgan Crow. Uh, is for fans of like Harry Potter, this is a fantastic series. Um, basically, I guess she's 12 or 13, somewhere in that range. Um, there's this girl that gets whisked off to this uh school for uh it's in this magical world, I guess, and they she has all these powers, and uh she's fighting the bad guy that like there's like a Voldemort character. It's not Harry Potter, and I don't want to it needs its own justice, like you don't want to put it in there, but these are great books, um, good female lead, um, lots of friendships, and uh the girl Morgan is uh she has the the powers that all of the ancient bad guys had at a time in the history of this world, and so everybody kind of treats her like she's gonna be a bad guy, and so she develops these friends who turn out to be uh they have her back no matter what. Uh it's the Wondersmith Society, is their little school, and they have all these fun classes and fun adventures, and there's all this chaos. Her uh benefactor who she she uh ends up staying with in this world because she's from a different world, um, or different city, I guess. This is like a hidden city in the city. Uh, he owns this hotel that has rooms, like there's a smoking room, and that's not like a go in there and smoke room. You go in there and there's always a scent in the air, and it changes. Uh the hotel change her room changes every day based on her mood. So a lot of magic in it. So fun. Yeah, so a little alternate school situation.

SPEAKER_02 14:20

Yeah, yeah. That's fun. That is really fun. Um, I have one called uh that I read several years ago. I just wanted to shout out uh educated by Tara Westover. And I guess this this could kind of you know span the whole education of a person. This is a little different in that it's not necessarily about like a singular teacher or uh set in a school of sorts, but as someone who um was part of the homeschool community for a long time, um, with myself and my family. Um, I found this to be a really fascinating memoir about uh about Tara's life in Idaho growing up in a very secluded family system where education was not something that was prioritized in the traditional sense, and how that led to her finding out how she needed to move through the world. So this is very different, a very different turn. Um, very harrowing at times. Her her parents, you know, for probably really good intentions decided to give her a very unusual education, a lot of which was very dangerous and um put her and her siblings in harm's way. Um, and that's something that I think is also important to learn about and read about how differently people move through the world and the vastly different experiences that some people have in not having access to education. Um, and how when she went to college she finally got out of her situation and went to, I believe, Brigham Young University because they were um raised in the FLDS church. Um how that broadened her world. Some something that we would think of as a very narrow religious college education actually broadened her world immensely. Um so yeah, if you can get your hands on educated if you haven't read it yet or listen to the audiobook as a read, I highly recommend it's great.

SPEAKER_03 16:23

Absolutely. There you go. I have one set in high school.

SPEAKER_01 16:26

Go for it.

SPEAKER_03 16:27

Um well it's not set in high school, but but it sort of is. Um it's called Those Stranger Diaries. Um, it's by Ellie Griffiths. It's um it's a mystery, it's set in um kind of rural countryside England. So it's sort of a cozy mystery. Um, I guess it is. It is a it is a cozy mystery. The the first central character is a high school English teacher named Clara Cassidy. Um, and she uh finds out that her friend and colleague has been murdered. Um and uh so of course an investigation ensues. But while she's while this is happening, um, she is already in the course of researching for a um paper she is an article she's writing um about uh an author who is fictional, but in the in the world that you know he's a real in her world, he's a real author. Um I say that because the book also includes a Victorian short story that's not real to our world. It's I assume written by this same author, but in it's attributed to this fictional Victorian author. So I thought that was a neat story. That was interesting. The book was in a book. Yeah, it's like there's the end of each segment section of the book is a segment of this Victorian short story, and so it draws the narrative through, like, and you you're revealed this short story as you're revealed the actual story you're reading. There's also diary entries from all of the characters. There's three points of view there's Claire Cassidy, the teacher, um, who's going through this kind of trauma, but also some other traumas that she has experienced recently. Um, more bodies crop up through the course. So I love it when there's a second act murder, um, so that you know that paid off. Um also there's a detective sergeant, um, Harbinder Carr. That's actually the character who is through the series. So this is a series about this detective sergeant. When I first started, I didn't think I would continue the series, but now I'm kind of like, I want to know how the second does the second book carry similar elements? Does it involve the other characters or just the detective? Anyway, and then the third point of view is the daughter of of Claire Cassidy, the the daughter of the high school teacher. Um, and for a long time. Um, well, I won't give anything away in the book, but I liked the way the mystery ended. It surprised me. I was surprised by who it's nice when a mystery surprises you. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 19:11

That is nice.

SPEAKER_01 19:12

Good job, author.

SPEAKER_03 19:14

That's how I always experience mysteries, but I know you usually figure them out. So yeah, I was surprised by this one. So I do think I'll continue the series, and um, it was it was a lot of fun. It has a lot of literary references, like real-world ones, like notably, notably um The Tempest, um, and but also Wilkie Collins, The Woman in White. Um, so it was a fun read.

SPEAKER_01 19:37

Rachel, do you read a book called The Butler Did It? And then you're like, oh, the Butler did it.

SPEAKER_02 19:41

I probably would, honestly.

SPEAKER_01 19:44

That's amazing. Uh so staying in high school and also staying in the magical realm. Uh The Magicians, uh, Lev Grossman. It it's hailed often as the adult Harry Potter. I mean, it's not really like adult theme, but it's just, you know, he's in high school. Um, and it's the same thing. Quentin Coldwater, uh super brilliant math whiz. Uh learns he has powers, whisked off to school, adventure pursues. So I love the in the book jacket. This is a new, we have a new copy here. Uh, there's also a sci-fi series um that I don't like, but it's there. And so the cover, of course, is the sci-fi cover. Um, but George R. R. Martin wrote, The Magicians is to Harry Potter as a shot of Irish whiskey is to a glass of weak tea. Hogwarts was never like this. And I love that. Uh George. So yeah, it's Urban Fantasy. Um, yeah, it's a good read. I I enjoyed it.

SPEAKER_03 20:48

Um can I take a short detour? How do we feel about books that the how the new cover is the Oh I hate it? The TV series or movie. Okay. Yeah. I don't know. I think it's the worst. Yeah, I don't want to.

SPEAKER_01 21:02

Zero stars.

SPEAKER_02 21:04

Yeah. It's shameful, you know.

SPEAKER_01 21:07

Yeah, advertising plus. Yes. I'm trying to think of some because when I pick this up, I always my brain starts flipping through images. And what are some of those? I have picked some up recently, but I can't place any. But now a motion picture.

SPEAKER_03 21:22

Usually the usually the paperback. The book that the movie 127 hours is based on completely changed its name because of the movie. Oh, yeah. So that's terrible. That book is called Between a Rock and a Hard Place. And I know it's he's a somewhat controversial figure now, but I loved that book when it first came out. It was really inspiring to me. Um, but the movie now I don't I don't want to talk about it.

SPEAKER_01 21:46

A lot of the lot of kids' books. A lot of the kids' books do that.

SPEAKER_03 21:51

I feel like everything. Killing Eve has the yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:55

Legend of Bagger Vance, which is a Will Smith movie. Uh the book Was kind of like not that great. Nobody even knew about it. The movie changed quite a bit of it. They're both great. But yeah, if you go pick up a book, right, that book it's got Will Smith on the cover. Which is fine. I mean, I'll I'll be honest, like I read some Harry Potter, but I watched the whole series before I read the whole series. And I actually liked having the images in my head. It was almost like I loved the movies so much. And then I read the books, and it was almost like side quests or additional information. But I don't think I would like I like the cover, the original covers, because they've redone those covers a gazillion times. I yeah, I I'm a sucker for that original cover.

SPEAKER_02 22:44

It's kind of just personal preference, but yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:46

Yeah, well, you just all have that same preference.

SPEAKER_03 22:48

Shameless marketing. Back on shameless marketing. Back on the subject of the magicians. This wasn't a book, it's not a book I planned to talk about, so I won't go into depth, but A Deadly Education by Naomi Novic is also very like grown-up magic school. I didn't plan to talk about it because there's no teachers in it, and that's a whole element of it. They learn from the the the mortal danger of the creatures that live in the skullance. But anyway, highly recommend that book. Um, but very, very an adult book.

SPEAKER_01 23:19

I love in the internet when everybody starts picking things apart. I love when people talk about how these magician schools like don't teach like math. There's no there's no English or anything, it's just here's potions class.

SPEAKER_03 23:34

The school of man's doesn't teach anything but survive. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:39

That's amazing.

SPEAKER_02 23:40

I have one if we're moving on to college. Yeah, go ahead. Um, I have one, The Love Hypothesis by Allie Hazlewood. Um, I've read Allie Hazlewood's uh more like magical stuff, like Bride. Um but this one I'm actually I haven't read yet, but I'm looking forward to reading because it's a little bit out of the usual read that I do. It's about a fake relationship between uh a biology student and her professor. Uh so she's a third-year PhD candidate. Her name is Olive Smith. She doesn't believe in lasting romantic relationships. She's uh hopeless unromantic, I guess you could say. Um, but her best friend does, and so she decides to do this experiment. Fine, because she's a biologist. I guess I'll I'll kiss the first man I see and we'll see what happens. So I'm looking forward to seeing what happens in the love hypothesis. Sounds like a fun romp, a cerebral, you know, this could never happen to me. And I'm hoping that she's proved wrong and that it's a fun, hopelessly romantic love story. So I will report back on that one.

SPEAKER_01 24:49

That's how I would read it too. Like I need this to be.

SPEAKER_02 24:53

It sounds like a fun premise, so we'll see what happens. Does anyone else have anything before I finish with my final? I have two. You have college. Go for it. Yeah, I've college. Okay, for yeah. Mine is definitely beyond that. Oh wow. Yep, lifelong learning.

SPEAKER_03 25:10

Yeah, absolutely. So I read Girl Dinner by Olive Blake. This is uh ostensibly a horror novel. Um, it it is set in a college, um, and it revolves around um a sorority, a mysterious sorority just called the house. Um, and the the the um the sisters are just called the girls. I thought you were gonna say the sisters. And uh the teacher is uh Dr. Sloan Hartley, who having recently um had a child, um, is an adjunct professor. They have moved um so that her husband um can get this great tenured position, um, but there's not enough positions for her. So she has been relegated to adjunct professor, despite the fact that she has more experience in accolades than he does, but she also has a baby um throwing up on her all the time. So it really explores new motherhood and the postpartum experience. Um and she gets invited to be the faculty advisor for this sorority, the house. And um, there's also it follows um one of the girls who is pledging um to become one of the girls. Um, but of course, this sorority has a dark secret. Um and to me, this book took entirely too long um to get to the cannibalism.

SPEAKER_01 26:58

Here we go.

SPEAKER_03 27:00

Girl dinner.

SPEAKER_01 27:01

Um should have seen it coming.

SPEAKER_03 27:03

But if you if you want uh, you know, a a feminist story that explores those those themes, especially the themes of being a new mother and such, I do think that there's a lot to offer here. Um and uh and but and there is just a little bit of cannibalism as well. Okay, we'll consider ourselves one. You want and uh you want me to go right into my next one.

SPEAKER_01 27:27

Yeah, we can chew on that one later.

SPEAKER_03 27:28

Which is uh now for something completely different. Well, maybe not completely different. I read, I finally read The Secret History.

SPEAKER_04 27:39

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 27:39

Um just uh Hallmark original OG Dark Academia. Donna Tart. Yep, Donat. It's set in um Vermont. Uh it's not, hold on, it's not at Bennington College. It's called something different in this book, but it's based on Donatart's experience at Bennington College in Vermont. Um, and it is the story of several young men who go to this college who are in the classics program, um, specifically the only Greek professor, um, Julian Morrow is their professor, and he has kind of led them astray. Um, the book starts with the knowledge that one of the boys has been murdered, likely by all of the other young men in this group of friends. That's how the book starts, so it's not a spoiler. And then it the book doesn't focus on an investigation like a normal detective story. It's more that the narrative itself investigates what led up to, like the leading events that led up to the murder, and then the immediate aftermath of that. Um, and it's deeply melancholy. It's very literature, it's um in a beautiful way. It's got some beautiful metaphor and symbolism and beautiful writing and kind of a deeply melancholic ending. Um, but then I do want to say that at the ending, it also does have this kind of interesting, it was written in 1992. It has this interesting like 1980s, 1990s era, like um, where are they all now? Like run where he goes through like each of the characters and what happened to them in their future.

SPEAKER_01 29:32

I need that in every book.

SPEAKER_03 29:33

Yeah, that is and I including like a cat, the feral cat they found is very interesting. Um, so yeah, uh definitely recommend a cla, an absolute classic.

SPEAKER_02 29:45

And that's I would say for people who love like Dead Poet Society, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 29:49

That's what I was that's what I was thinking with the Dead Poetic.

SPEAKER_03 29:52

Very Dead Poet Society, yes, which is also a book. So you could read that as well.

SPEAKER_01 29:57

That has the cover of the Robin Williams movie.

SPEAKER_02 30:01

One of the best teachers in literature or fiction movie ever. All right, Rachel, finish the song. Okay, uh finally, let's move into just Adulthood, a teacher, A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines. Um, very, very famous book, made into movie, made into stage plays, all kinds of things. Um A Lesson Before Dying is set in a small Cajun community in the South in the late 1940s. Uh a young man named Jefferson is convicted of murder. Um he is not guilty of this murder, but all white, you know how that goes. In injustice, such as such as it is, his godmother, so he is treated like an animal, um, even by his own defense attorney. Um and so his godmother decides to uh give him the gift of sending his teacher there, his fourth grade, he never made it past the fourth grade. So um his teacher, Mr. Wiggins, goes to see him for an hour every day to teach him to work through this time and how to die with dignity as a man, as a learned man who is not an animal who is stuck in a system that is very unjust. So it's it's slow, it's full of dialogue and lots of back and forth. It's heavy, but it's very good. So lifelong learning. I thought this is a good representation of how we should never stop learning, even to our last breath. What a beautiful way to do that. It's a really heavy way to end this podcast, but there we go. It's beautiful, poignant.

SPEAKER_01 31:41

Well, I needed to do a deep dive and hoopla. Uh, I love the book. It's called Under the Bayou Moon. I know I've talked about it before, but I'm gonna swing it again. Okay. That's about a teacher from Georgia who moves to Louisiana to take on um a school. Uh, you know, it's early 1900s, so it's one room school, you know, two classes. Um, but what I love about it is it's during a time when the American government is pushing for uh kind of that assimilation into patriotism, I guess. Yeah, and so like the kids, because they're all Cajun, speak a little bit of French and a little bit of English, but French has been outlawed. So she moves into this new town and it's a little cozy romance. One of my all-time favorite books. Um, so a good teacher book. So definitely pick that one up. Thank you. Or don't pick that up, download that one.

SPEAKER_02 32:39

You can pick it up. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 32:41

Yeah, I think uh we're kind of running out of time, but I would imagine you can go, we could all have a story about a teacher that read to us or changed our lives or impacted our lives.

SPEAKER_02 32:53

Um, yeah, they're doing the good work.

SPEAKER_01 32:55

Yeah. Shout out to Miss Blunt for reading me the BFG. We love our teachers. So thanks for listening. Uh pick up a book about a school or a teacher. Or you know what? If you want to deviate and just read one of your favorite books from when you were in school, like Anamorphs. Uh we're not the police. We're not the police. Live your life. Live you do you. You have been listening to Russell Reads with the Rachels, brought to you by Danville Public Library.

SPEAKER_03 33:27

Hi.

unknown 33:28

Hi, everyone.

SPEAKER_01 33:29

My mom's gonna be glad I didn't tell any stories about getting in trouble in school.