190 Days

190 Days (A Teacher's Tale) is a blend of educational fiction and mystery set in Stetsonville, New Hampshire. Emily Dow teaches English at Azihoosic River School where she struggles to meet the demands placed on educators: attending endless meetings, utilizing uncooperative technology, and, as her principal warns, stopping students from "conjugating" in the halls. However, trying to be a positive force in the lives of her students, particularly those from non-traditional homes, is often her first priority. This year Emily has another challenge to resolve as well. On Thanksgiving Emily's dysfunctional sister-in-law, nicknamed Baby Grapes, blunders onto the crime scene of her ex-husband's murder and is charged with the crime. She manipulates Emily into agreeing to conduct her own investigation of the murder. The police believe they have an ironclad case. Emily knows that Baby Grapes would not kill her twin daughters' father despite his many sins including child abuse, adultery, blackmail and failure to pay child support. Emily spends the year balancing the absurd situations in academia with playing amateur detective. Neither task is easy. The well being of children in both settings depends on her. With satire and humor Emily faces the educational bureaucracy of the school from the condom controversy to the prohibition of chocolate in the school. After a school shutdown, she deals with a teacher nightmare which has a giant dinosaur attacking the school. Educational issues permeate throughout this novel. How do teachers cope with parents who insist their child only read materials which they condone? How do teachers cope with high school students who are so handicapped they cannot read? What is a school's duty to deal with a student who has brought a hunting knife to school to kill another student? Emily shares with us characters and conversations which bring the Azihoosic River School to life with all of her humor and dedication to educating her students.