What do You think about City Kid (1981)?
Decent story, if at times unbelievable, about a 7-year-old delinquent and the teacher who reaches him. Mary is a 40-something former special education aide who went back to school to get a teaching degree, and while there, she became involved in a program that provided one-on-one guidance to kids who were on the verge of slipping through the cracks. Luke is a second grader whose mom is perpetually ill and whose father is out of the picture, so he spends his time taking care of his younger siblings and getting into trouble. This was in the same vein as some of Torey Hayden's books, although not nearly as good. Torey doesn't mind showing us her flaws and her guesswork; Mary would have us believe that she's actually Mary Poppins sans umbrella. Mary spent a good deal of the book bemoaning the fact that she had to go to COLLEGE to get a DEGREE in order to become a teacher, which was completely unfair to her because she was naturally just fabulous with kids and knew instinctively what to do at all times. And, according to her, every last one of her classes was a complete waste of time, she learned nothing, and she didn't even attend graduation because it was all so pointless. I happen to be a fan of teachers having degrees, and I really couldn't see where she was coming from.But the kid in the story was sweet, and it was encouraging to see him grow and become less rebellious. There were moments that made me wonder exactly how real this "non-fiction" book was; Luke gets held back a grade one year because of poor academic performance, but he becomes such a well-behaved and smart kid that the Powers That Be, without any prompting or special work, actually let him skip a grade the next year. I suppose it could happen, but I kind of doubt it. The comparison to Torey Hayden's books is inevitable, but while Torey includes work from her kids in her books and has a "where are they now" section on her website, MacCracken's characters come off as a little unbelievable. Perhaps Luke was a composite of several kids she had worked with--that would make more sense.The book did provoke an emotional response, and it made me want to volunteer at an elementary school. It's clear that so many kids out there would benefit from an adult just showing up to have lunch with them one day a week.
—Heidi