Los Angeles - September 09, 2008

Hot for Teacher

“Ms. Hempel Chronicles,” by Sarah Shun-lien Bynum

For you, middle school was a time of awkwardness, acne, and a brief foray into Goth. Not your proudest years.

But definitely some of your most formative.

So for neophyte seventh-grade English teacher Beatrice Hempel, protagonist of Sarah Shun-lien Bynum’s brilliant Ms. Hempel Chronicles, the pressure to be a positive influence in her students’ lives is daunting.

Through a series of eight short stories, Beatrice grapples with sex ed (“Ms. Hempel, who’s the best lover you’ve ever had?”), faculty rendezvous, the humorous cynicism of early teens, and her own feelings of inadequacy in dealing with all of the above.

It’s impossible to walk away from this beautifully written book without feeling nostalgic (Beatrice’s own melancholic reminiscences of childhood certainly fuel the fire).

Though you could do without that butterfly tattoo on your ankle.

Available online at amazon.com or at your local bookstore.