Category: Literary Fiction Publisher: Create Space
ISBN-10: 1484987101
Type: Fiction
Pages: 370
Copyright: July 2012
ISBN-13: 9781484987100
Price: $2.99 (eBook)
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So What! Stories or Whatever! is a collection of stories about the people who are found in a contemporary High School in England; tales that will make the reader laugh, cry, think deeply or differently, and maybe even be inspired or impressed.
So What! Stories or Whatever! generally follows the early and subsequent career of Robert Jeffrey, as he attempts to prove to himself that he can motivate the children he teaches to want to learn about Science – and maybe become scientists one day. All through the book we are made aware of the joys and disappointments experienced by pupils and their teachers.
The book tends to concentrate in the latter part on an unpleasant boy Kyle, who is a bully, and his effect on two other boys, Adam and Nigel Shantra. Unknown to Mr Jeffrey he also affects the way his teaching job changes at the exact time that Robert really feels he has become a “good teacher”. The three paths of Nigel, Kyle and Robert Jeffrey converge several years later, in the concluding chapters, to provide an unexpected twist to the tale.
Waterloo Road or Grange Hill meets Gervase Phinn? – well, maybe! Whether you love this book or hate it you will discover that the stories about its individuals will stay in your memory for a long time. With over twenty years teaching experience behind him, G J Griffiths has brought to the reader some of the stories about the children he taught, in this amusing and often poignant book. Parents, teachers, pupils and students will all recognise the characters and their tales. With the ever-present controversy about changing the education system this is a timely illustration of what is to be found in the classrooms of the contemporary High School.
Excerpt
PART ONE:
Preparation
Chapter 1
A paper dart flew across the room and hit the left ear of a boy who was arm-wrestling a girl. It did not hurt his ear but he lost concentration for a second, and the momentary weakness helped Amethyst to win the contest.
‘Whoo! I win! I win!’ she yelled. ‘Told ya! - Girls are just as strong as boys! Stronger, stronger! Whoo! I win! I win!’
Fraser was not happy with this. ‘That’s not fair!’ he moaned. He stood up to look round the classroom for the dart-thrower. But there were several pupils launching paper missiles in all directions. ‘Uh!’ he grunted and pushed Amethyst’s books to the floor as he sat down again.
Three boys and a girl were sat round a desk in the corner of the room that was farthest from the door to the corridor. They were writing furiously about Heat: Conduction and Convection and argued frequently about whose turn it was to borrow the split-and-scratched ruler. This was somewhat pathetic since none of their diagrams did justice to the two diagrams they were copying. All of their accounts were identical, allowing for the crossings-out and the occasional dirty smudge. Adam had pocketed eighty pence but was now starting to panic.
‘Come on,’ he urged them. ‘I don’t wanna get done for lendin’ you my homework. Hurry up! She’ll be here soon!’
‘Shurrup!’ said Darrell, ‘I can’t concentrate with you rabbitin’ on. Anyway you’ve bin paid ’aven’t ya!’
‘You still owe me twenty pee,’ said Adam.
‘Finished!’ said the girl, named Tracy. She added, ‘Miss isn’t here. She’s gone ’ome sick. Annabel told me at lunchtime.’
Annabel had also gone home sick, but had omitted to tell any teachers since the hole in the link-wire fencing was conveniently nearer to Annabel than the school Reception office, who always seemed to insist on getting a teacher’s permission first! Sometimes Tracy sat next to Annabel but usually she sat next to Amethyst, which was not often as Amethyst regularly truanted from school. Annabel usually sat next to Pete, but this afternoon he had palled-up with Tracy. Pete confirmed Tracy’s declaration, ‘Yeah, Dolan’s not ’ere!’ He grinned at his listeners and then became more thoughtful.
They all stopped writing and looked apprehensively at each other.
‘Wonder who we’ll get?’ whined Pete as he tried, unsuccessfully, to erase a dayglow-green graph line with a damp and grubby thumb.
In the opposite corner of the room a pair of girls shared the compact earphones of their equally compact personal stereo player. Fortunately recent technical advances in such devices meant that they could easily conceal them in their incredibly small school bags. To the uninitiated these school bags looked like fashionable handbags, and so a remarkable number of discussions revolved around them day after day. The uninitiated teachers and parents often resorted to shouting and threatening, but to no avail. The girls persisted and the bags continued to appear. While it was impossible to get exercise books or pencil cases into these school bags there was just room enough for face make-up, blusher, eye-liner, lippy, hairbrush, tail comb, money, cigarettes, a lighter, and of course a personal stereo!
At first glance Michelle and Caroline looked like sisters: long bleached-blonde hair, pulled into an asymmetric pony tail on one side of the head, make-up thickly applied, scarlet lipstick and incredibly complicated patterns applied to their long finger nails with various pink and purple varnishes. It was of little concern to them that they could not take homework to and from school, or handle writing implements to produce neat classwork, because of course anything to do with school was boring!
Professional Reviews
A Rich Quilt of Stories from School...A Nice read!, August 5, 2013
This review is from: SO WHAT! STORIES or WHATEVER! (Kindle Edition)
Snippets of stories from the career of a science teacher are richly sewn together into a quilt that will bring back memories of your school days. The kids were terrifying, but the teacher also learned...He learns compassion, humility and firmness. The end wraps it up with the typical reward most teachers get, some students remain terrifying, even when you bump into them later in life, but others reassure you that you were a good teacher, and they got your back like you once had theirs.
A Nice read!
Humorous And Poignant, September 17, 2013
This review is from: So What! Stories or Whatever! (Paperback)
So What! Stories follows the teaching career of Mr Jeffrey who starts with high ideals that he hopes to retain throughout his working life but it is hard to avoid the inevitable peaks and troughs that occur along the way.
He finds that being a teacher stretches his abilities almost to the limit, daily dealing with large numbers of children, imparting a sense of enjoyment and understanding of his subject, while keeping order, discipline and above all his sense of humour. Many of the children help with this latter necessity often unwittingly - Clare and Samantha among others! Through the years his pupils' escapades provide lots of amusing, and sometimes thought provoking, moments for the reader.
After many years, Mr Jeffrey's successful career seems to be coming to an unfortunate conclusion. However there is an unexpected and surprising twist at the end of the book.
This was an enjoyable and engaging story and I look forward to G J Griffith's next book.
This book rings so true......., February 7, 2014
This review is from: So What! Stories or Whatever! (Paperback)
I thoroughly enjoyed G J Griffith's first novel - Fallen Hero - and looked forward to his second.....which, surprisingly moved from the battlefield to the classroom. In a former life, I was a teacher in a secondary school - I suspect G J Griffiths might well have been seen in front of a class full of eager learners as well - and as I progressed quickly through the book I journeyed back through my career, the underlying theme and the anecdotes being so realistic to my experiences. The plot which has an unexpected, but fulfilling climax, the good guy winning, holds you throughout, allowing time for the author to introduce and develop character driven anecdotes......it was these which made me think, "yes, I was there".....the openly disruptive child, the would-be criminal designed for a spell of 'Her Majesties Pleasure', the hard working, pleasant, polite pupil [often overlooked by a teacher when describing 'a day in the classroom'] and then, of course, the inter-staff relationships, at which pupils could only guess. You don't have to be a teacher to appreciate the intricacies of this book as, after all, we've all been there... in the classroom where so much of life's experiences have their foundation. I believe there is sufficient scope for G J Griffiths to write a sequel...I truly hope so
In Between Classes – A review of the novel ‘So What! Stories or Whatever!’
“I am indebted to my father for living, but to my teacher for living well” – Alexander the Great
Any kid growing up spends the longest hours of his young life outside his own home in a school. So it’s no wonder schools are often referred to as second homes and teachers as sort of parental figures. And even though we experience a lot of rich emotions in our homes, nothing compares to the unique and special bond we make with our teachers. Numerous lovers and friends may enter and exit our lives, deaths and births we may see many but never shall we forget the one who opened the door to our minds, dispersing the shadows of ignorance with the light of knowledge.
Author G J Griffiths’s novel ‘So What! Stories or Whatever!’ is an anthology of a lifetime of stories of a teacher and the many kids that made an impact in his life. It follows Mr. Robert Jeffrey, a high school science teacher and his experiences dealing with students who were as varied as it gets. Beginning with Robert trying to lay a foundation on which to base his teaching persona, we get to see the various methods he employs, the numerous day to day incidents he faced dealing with students that made up a normal school day and the positive impact he made in the student’s lives.
Even though So What! Stories or Whatever! deals with the story of a teacher and his students in an English school, it has a story that will find universal resonance wherever it is read. It is a story that has been told many times before but then which story isn’t, is there a love story, an action story, a life drama or a comedy in this world that you haven’t heard before? And yet we like them and listen to and read every new story in that genre because certain stories are like that, it appeals to us at a basic emotional level we cannot ignore because these stories, like the one you will find in this book tug at your heart and not your head.Another attractive quality about the book is the guaranteed connection you will feel with the various characters and the events described in the book. You will find in the book traces of your old self and the various people you knew back in school, you will read about things that your friends and you did and you will also get to see the teachers that made an impact in your life.
G J Griffiths has a very simple and yet effective way of narrating his story and has created the perfect alter ego in Robert Jeffrey. And you can sense that it is perhaps the author himself, reliving his teaching days and the moments he spent amongst students like these. Another thing that I liked was how he dealt with the issue of bullying, everyone must have faced it one time or the other while in school and whether you were a perpetrator or a victim, you will find the conclusion drawn in the story to be very apt and just.
For the realistic portrayal of the school atmosphere and the laughs and tears that the author hands out in equal measure, I recommend this book and look forward to its sequel.
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