reviews
Jan 29, 2012
Tracy
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What a thought provoking story about prejudicial barriers as well as the importance teachers have on the lives of their students. To have had a teacher that taught you about yourself and helped you learn and believe in yourself is truly a gift. We often hear about how teachers touched someone's life in an extremely positive way, but this story is told from the vantage point of one of those teachers. I loved having a fly-on-the-wall view of this amazing teacher's journey with his class and learni
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Oct 09, 2011
Shinjan
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Aug 01, 2011
Jeannie
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I read this book many years ago for a unit I was assigned to teach my eighth grade classes during my student teaching experience. We watched the movie at the end of the unit. The book was much better. It inspired me to work hard to be the best teacher that I possibly could become. Maybe it spoke to me so clearly because this book isn't really about the methods--it's more about the heart behind the methods. It really isn't so much about academics either. Braithwaite's focus is on the moral and s
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Apr 30, 2010
Ankur
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I first heard about this novel in my 7th grade when we were told to read it as part of our holiday homework (which I never bothered to do). The name somehow never left my memory and that was the reason I bought a copy for myself about a week back on my last visit to the nearby book store.
As I relaxed on my couch to begin what was going to be an enlightening journey, I had no idea that this would be the first book I was going to read at a stretch.
(I am not in a habit of reading books More...
As I relaxed on my couch to begin what was going to be an enlightening journey, I had no idea that this would be the first book I was going to read at a stretch.
(I am not in a habit of reading books More...
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Sep 01, 2009
Shelby
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This book is about a black man that can't find a good job, so he has to be a teacher because of his skin color. This story is set in Greenslade Secondary School in the east London disrict.This black man in E.R. Braithwaite and he is the author of this book. The school he works in is in a rough neighborhood and his class is less than disiplined. So throughout the book the realtionships with Braitwaite and his students grow more and more through respect and guidance; that includes overcoming ra
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Jan 12, 2012
Patti
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I expected the book to be a lot like "Up the Downstaircase", instead it was a different take on the theme of teaching. "To Sir, With Love" focuses on Braithwaite's experiences of racial discrimination in London. Even when Rick feels that he's making headway with his students,he realizes that a lifetime of influence is hard to overcome.
Many parts of the book were very moving. We scoff at how "PC" our work environments have become, forgetting how difficult i More...
Many parts of the book were very moving. We scoff at how "PC" our work environments have become, forgetting how difficult i More...
Aug 20, 2010
Risa
rated it:
I must have been around eleven or twelve years old when I watched To Sir With Love (1967). It was a movie that moved me a great deal, not to mention Sidney Poitier's excellent acting! I never got to see it again after that first time, and was quite excited to come across only last week at a local book store. There was just one copy of the book with a very dignified Poitier gazing out from its cover.
I grabbed it.
Read it.
It is a story about the experience Braith More...
I grabbed it.
Read it.
It is a story about the experience Braith More...
Jan 05, 2010
Mike (the Paladin)
rated it:
This may not be exactly the edition I read "back when". This is another book my girl friend from high school gets credit for me reading. In the heated racial atmosphere of the 60s and 70s this was a well read book (and of course inspired a well known movie, whose theme became a hit song).
Unlike a a couple of romances I read more sticks with me from this book. The scenes of the teacher confronting the (at first) rowdy "youths" he is attempting to teach and the fran More...
Unlike a a couple of romances I read more sticks with me from this book. The scenes of the teacher confronting the (at first) rowdy "youths" he is attempting to teach and the fran More...
Aug 24, 2011
JocelynRose
rated it:
This book was like a movie - you like it because the good guy wins. Aside from that, it also plays out like a movie. Everything happens as you would expect. There's only one part that doesn't play out like a movie and it's maddening. But this is a true story, and true stories rarely stick to a plot.
Just the way the story is told is interesting. It's blunt, but adorned. It's inspirational and eye-opening. It's truly one of those stories called "the triumph of the human spirit".
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Just the way the story is told is interesting. It's blunt, but adorned. It's inspirational and eye-opening. It's truly one of those stories called "the triumph of the human spirit".
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Jun 21, 2010
To Sir, With Love tells the story of a black man who was barred from every other job, except being a teacher, because of the color of his skin. It is at his new teaching job in the east London district that he has an opportunity to change the lives of forty-six students from being defiant delinquents, to literate self-respected members of society. This is a coming of age story, and one of great character development from all characters. It shows struggle in a time of diversity and hope in a time
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Jan 25, 2012
Denise
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My favorite book! I first read it when I was 11 years old, having found the book in a pile of old books my grandmother was going to burn in the trash barrel. Lucky escape for both me and the book. I'm positive that this book is the reason I never learned to be prejudiced. The frankness in the conversations between Sir and his students about being black and HUMAN just like them, (especially when they "discover" his blood is red!)was something that stuck with me. I've just re-read it and
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Apr 27, 2011
Kate
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Kind of like Stand and Deliver, but in England after WWII. Good, gripping story, well written, and my only complaint was that it was too short! I liked that not only did he talk about the racism, casual and not, that he experienced, but also of his own experiences overcoming his first glance biases against the children in London's 'tough' East End. Does not get excessively preachy and made me feel like a positive outcome is possible when fighting racism.
That said, it is a product More...
That said, it is a product More...
Oct 05, 2010
Amalie
rated it:
This book is one of my all-time-favourites simply because it’s inspiring. First time I read it I was just finishing my school days and wondered what it would be like to have a teacher like him, though I’ve come across several caring and inspiring teachers, Braithwaite’s story rented a special place in my heart.
The story is set in the East End of London and it is based on real events concerned with Braithwaite taking up a teaching post in a school there. Though the main problem is n More...
The story is set in the East End of London and it is based on real events concerned with Braithwaite taking up a teaching post in a school there. Though the main problem is n More...
Jul 02, 2011
Maxine
rated it:
To Sir With Love is an autobiographical novel,dealing with the author’s Experiences in his first year of teaching in East London. Filled with disappointment and anger at being rejected in all his previous interviews because of the colour of his skin, E. R. Braithwaite enters as a teacher in Greenslade Secondary School in the slums of East London. Expecting to find well-mannered and disciplined children, he is shocked to find the school filled with rough and undisciplined students. To Sir With Lo
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Jul 16, 2010
Bettie
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Jul 13, 2010
Marielle Jian
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I loved reading this book mostly because it contains elements of racism and discrimination and it offers a glimpse in the life of a resourceful black man who can't get a job because of the color of his skin. The little things from this book captured my interest, at how the author kept encountering unexpected kindness from everyday life and how he's always thankful for it. Also, his view of the children that he taught in greenslade and of life in general kept me reading on and on until I finished
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Jul 29, 2011
Two things: !. Never judge a book by its cover; and 2. Never judge a man by his colour.
My attempts to read this book were always belaboured mainly because the cover did not offer any invitation to venture further. Yet, it eventually became the last book to read in my collection of borrowed books.
As a teacher, I found it to be a timely read and also quite motivating. I heard there is a movie but I havent been able to source it.
My attempts to read this book were always belaboured mainly because the cover did not offer any invitation to venture further. Yet, it eventually became the last book to read in my collection of borrowed books.
As a teacher, I found it to be a timely read and also quite motivating. I heard there is a movie but I havent been able to source it.
Sep 21, 2010
Velvetink
rated it:
The nun's at my high school thought our class incorrigible. They hoped this book would save us, (well in combination with the movie) starring Sidney Poitier as Thackeray and Lulu as Barbara "Babs" Pegg and the film's title song "To Sir, with Love", sung by Lulu, - it did save quite a few of us. Some of us still read books! Only those who passed the English exam (included an essay on the book) were allowed the excursion to see the film.
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Mar 22, 2011
Shabbeer
rated it:
An excellent book on the hyocrisy of Britain in terms of racial discrimination....In America, people openly agreed about this problem, but as this book shows UK was in a special place.....Denying the exisence of racial discrimination yet having pretty much of it underneath....
Readers would think that the situation is long gone, but as we see even now this book seems relevant with entire Europe turning more xenophobic....
Kudos to Braithwaite for this excellent book, 4/5
Readers would think that the situation is long gone, but as we see even now this book seems relevant with entire Europe turning more xenophobic....
Kudos to Braithwaite for this excellent book, 4/5
Apr 24, 2011
Susan
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It was really hard for me to tell if this book was fiction or non-fiction. It's both - it's a memoir based on the author's life. But it is technically fiction. It's not exactly a quick read, but I liked it. I do think that teachers can have this type of power to really change their student's lives. But I also think that it is sad that schools and students are in such a bad situation to need teachers like this.
Feb 09, 2011
Dhawal
rated it:
In the league of Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin, this novel gives a vivid insight into the journey of a teacher in post war London - his victories, his challenges, his notoriously wild easr end students and most importantly the ideals he succeeds in imparting in a bunch of teenager students who would have otherwise been lost to disrepair and ruin. Inspirational.
Mar 08, 2011
Tridisha
rated it:
excellent book...!!
Reading this book we can realize the suffering of those peoples who are discriminated on the basis of race,color,religion etc.
The character of the teacher played in the story is very very important.It helps us learn a lot about the qualities we need to posses being a human being...!!!!
5 star book..!!!
Reading this book we can realize the suffering of those peoples who are discriminated on the basis of race,color,religion etc.
The character of the teacher played in the story is very very important.It helps us learn a lot about the qualities we need to posses being a human being...!!!!
5 star book..!!!
Apr 09, 2011
Ellen
rated it:
I liked it a lot. I always had the image of Sidney Poitier in mind while reading it. The kids weren't as bad as I had expected. There was quite a bit of description of the interaction among the teachers.
It had a surprise for me, too. I wonder if he kept on teaching. He was trained as a technical person.
It had a surprise for me, too. I wonder if he kept on teaching. He was trained as a technical person.
Jan 18, 2010
Samodh
rated it:
Excellent novel, presents an idealistic picture of a teacher in realistic terms confronting the almost-illiterate students of a multi-ethnic town in England. The students are grown up, yet illiterate, even hardly comparable to 'WANAATHA' students. How the teacher gradually perceives their simple ambitions,how he overcomes their crude-inherited behaviour, at last complies with them and teaches them simple values and exhibits their talents to themselves are very nicely and poignantly featured. Th
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Jun 02, 2009
Christina
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Quick read. Enjoy his writing style. I read half the book thinking it was fiction and then the second half marveling at his lovely language. Issues of prejudice/race/expectations/judgment illuminated and prodded.
Sep 27, 2011
Rigveda
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Bought the book after I loved a chapter that was present in the school curriculum. It is an inspiring story, heart warming and non sappy. The ending could have been a bit better though.
Apr 10, 2009
Sherry (sethurner)
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Based on a true story of a black teacher coming into a white London school and turning kids' lives around. It's probably dated in some ways, but a person can't help but be inspired.
Aug 27, 2011
Grp
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A truly magnificent piece of work that is such a pleasure to read - while giving a whole new perspective to teaching, it is also a beautiful lesson in management...simply superb!
May 27, 2008
Vinita
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Its a very simply written book and a well written one. I expected it to be a melodramatic, overly expressive book, but it wasn't. The simple descriptions gave a wonderful picture of the environment in which the children were brought up, their school and also a good idea of how east London looked. There are a lot of movies on the same theme and I believe we begin to in a way sub-consciously expect the same kind of drama in older books. And that's what I was afraid of when I picked it up. This boo
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Feb 25, 2010
Vasil
rated it:
Pretty nice book on teaching, actually. The racisms stuff is not that interesting (e.g. nothing new there) and the love story is unfinished, but the rest is good.
