Spine

by F.E. Mazur

It's the start of another school year and teachers Grayson Lord and George Nesbitt know what awaits them. Administrative "management" in place of leadership. Disingenuous professionalism. Community contempt. Parental mistrust. Widespread student disrespect. And worst of all, further compromise of their control in the classroom. They understand what everyone knows but doesn't say. Without authority, teaching is impossible. "No one ever respected a...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0692224998
• ISBN13: 9780692224991
• Release Date: May 2014
• Publisher: Royalty Ridge
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.99 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

About as Clunky as a Rolex

I wish that persons with an ax to grind against anauthor would find some other way and stop attemptingto mislead readers. My wife and I read this novel, andalthough we have differing opinions on why the authorportrayed his teachers as candidly as he did, we bothagree that the characterizations are well done, theplot finely designed, and above all the writing issmooth with no potholes in the road. The beginning ofalmost every chapter is obviously crafted so that areader's curiosity is renewed. Also, while therealm of this story is education, by no means is theaction confined to a school. Of the book's thirtychapters, Grayson Lord and his colleagues are presentinside a school building in only about ten of them,and then not always in a classroom. This is grab-you storytelling from first page to last.

Suspense with entertainment AND social value?1st Rate!

This first novel illustrates what this reader has been hoping for in mysteries and suspense thrillers published in the new century. Tired of stories, however highly entertaining many of them are, that basically present dead bodies and a solution as to how they died and who was responsible, I've been in search of the mystery or thriller that seeks to impact the American psyche concerning problems that affect us all. "Spine" achieves this within its charge of entertainment. Public education is the topic. Integrated with the conflict that a pair of teachers face with an incorrigible student are reminders to American readers how poetical wisdom on the institutions' cornerstones and keystones have been replaced with meaningless advertising slogans; how real proof of school accountability has been jettisoned in favor of massive paper proof; how all segments of a school system are more involved than ever and yet the product is considerably less in character and knowledge than the products of old. I admire the honesty required to write this book...

A public education about public education

After reading Spine by F. E. Mazur I came away with the following: Spine is a public education about education. Mazur writes a detailed, well thought out expose' in fictional form of the sometimes tragic realities of the institution most of us (with the exception of home schoolers and perhaps some private institutions) have to be confined in for years out of our lives: public schools. Long gone are the days of the spinster school teachers living in the homes of their students with hickory sticks in their hands to maintain order. As depicted in Spine, today's teachers live a variety of different lifestyles and can no longer take discipline into their own hands like they used to be able to. What has not changed over the years is the expectation of the self righteous public to enforce those rigid moral standards from the olden days: and when there is a suspicion of inappropriate behavior, as there is in Spine, the people are likely to form a witch hunt and the subject of the hunt may feel forced to defend himself and feel oppression as he has never experienced it before. The difference in not allowing the teacher to take discipline in their own hands can present difficulties in dealing with extremely difficult cases, such as with one character in Spine. In this case, the teacher reacts inappropriately, but seems to feel backed in a corner with no way out but to use his clever tongue. Spine is definitely not for the light hearted reader, which also demonstrates that teachers are human: they may swear, drink, play cards, and think about sexual acts. And although Spine sent a definite social message to me, it was also very enjoyable to read, as Mazur has a wonderful grasp of the language and how to put words together to move the reader along and want to turn the page. Outstanding.

This is No Welcome Back Kotter . . .

F.E. Mazur's "Spine" is a story told by a former teacher about teachers and students in a beautiful rural setting that hides some hideous secrets and reveals some powerful moral challenges for ordinary people doing ordinary things. "Spine" neatly combines a keeps-you-going mystery with a look at real life in an exceptionally well-written tale that serves as a chilling commentary on the lack of leadership in contemporary education. If you like a good mystery, excellent writing, and critical insight into a system we don't often see discussed, don't miss this one.

In The belly Of The Beast

F. E. Mazur's new novel resonates with anyone who has seen or experienced the inner workings of rural public education. As a teacher myself, I found Spine to be eerily more fact than fiction as this page-turner mystery unfolds. Mazur, a former teacher himself, quickly dispatches the near mythical characterization of teachers as a kind of 'Mother Theresa in Drag,' whose drab lives are sustained only by the 'needs and wants of their students.' Spine engages the reader in a desperate struggle against an adolescent evil - an evil that must be countered in kind by "real world" educators. These teachers are not "Mr. Kotter" or "Mr. Rogers" knock-offs. These teachers are more like those in your own school district than you may ever know. Simply put, if you're not ready for the truth, maybe you're not ready for Spine.May I suggest a good book on say, rubber stamping?