The Good Teacher

by P.J. Kelly

Marvale Primary School. A cloudy autumn sky. The day started with three hundred and sixty students and seventeen teachers. It ended with three people missing. Lisa and Jacob Johnstone had suffered a well-documented childhood of neglect and abuse. Everyone agreed that it needed to end. Jessica Bell was a kind and well-respected teacher. A strong and motivated woman, she only wanted the best for her students. Her own history of damage and pain had her believing that running away was the solution they had all been searching for. And so ensued a battle between right and wrong, good and evil, and common sense and the law. Miss Bell was not a bad woman. She was a good teacher. This is her story.

Genres: Fiction

466 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 11, 2017

About the author

PJ Kelly is a primary school teacher who lives and works in Perth, Western Australia. He has a wife and two sons and continues to travel widely, always looking for a new place to include in his next novel.

PJ is very passionate about his teaching career and believes that all children have the right to feel safe and be free from harm. It was from the strength of these convictions that his first novel 'The Good Teacher' was originally born. A similar vein runs through his second novel 'The Narrative', this time focusing on the role of teachers in preventing child abuse and the many obstacles that lay in wait for those who try to prevail over evil.

PJ has a Bachelor of Arts Degree as well as a Diploma in Education. This is his second novel. You can follow PJ's career at;
www.thegoodteachernovel.com
www.facebook.com/goodteachers/
and on Instagram at; the good teacher

Reviews

[P.J. Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my debut novel and the response has been fantastic. I've held this story deep within my heart for six years, so finally being able to release it to the world has been nothing short of inspirational. All author's dream of writing, but its the other side of publication that has been such a surprise; a chance to engage with readers and discuss the issues that this book raises. A huge thank you to anyone and everyone who has picked my book up and gone on this journey with primary school teacher Jessica Bell. She is a woman I am very proud of. One in a million. Cheers, PJ :)

[Janet · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed the idea and the storyline of this book but the publication errors (both spelling and grammar) were disappointing.

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5★ My thanks to the author who ran a giveaway for this just over a year ago which I won. My apologies for allowing it to sit there and get pushed aside and covered over by various other books! I finally used it to meet a criteria for a challenge that needed a book set in a school - and I’m very glad I did because I really enjoyed this!!

I could feel the sense of hopelessness of Jessica Bell as the documentation around Jacob and Lisa piled up although nothing was done, and the children, who were bright and interested in class, were sucked deeper and deeper into the morass of their home life. The parents’ uncaring attitude toward their children was mind-blowing, and when the father said to a mate that he could have “a taste of” Lisa in a few years - “Give her a few years and she’ll be a working girl just like her mum.”, I despised him.

The excerpts of the Children and Community Services Act 2004 were interesting - you can see how Jessica Bell could interpret them to mean that she should do what she did.

There were some typos, most of which didn’t really impede the progress of the story (although the repeated use of “your” instead of “you’re” grated a little). There were also some errors in the story - a few I can remember are when the case came to court, the defence was presented before the prosecution, which I’m pretty sure would always be backwards (the burden of proof is on the prosecution to prove their case before the defence can offer a defence), and Gary Johnstone’s original name was written as Raonic originally but Sideski in the courtroom, and at one point when Jessica has her hands cuffed behind her, she is described as brushing her fingertips over a brass plaque on a wall which would be difficult to do with her hands cuffed behind her, and the story lacked a bit of plausibility at times, but despite all that it was still a great story with an interesting premise that sucked me in from the beginning!

[Sarah Holden · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have just started reading PJ Kelly’s second book ‘The Narrative’ and it reminds me how much I enjoyed his first book. I could not put this book down when I finally read it. I started it in Perth in October 2022 when I was visiting my brother. PJ Kelly teaches in the school where my brother works and I met him when I visited. I read the first few chapters of Sim’s signed copy but I only got round to buying it when my Mum bought the second book back with her after her visit in April 2024. When I started my own copy I was hooked. It’s such a page turner and I was so desperate to find out what happened at the end. It’s really interesting to learn about the Australian education system and to read a book that involves safeguarding. It is also a really great yarn that is heartbreaking with a very light touch. To describe anything about it would give spoilers. I very much recommend it.

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting plot idea and obviously well researched but it read like a first draft. While some characters were extremely well drawn, it was unclear at times whether they were meant to be main characters or whether they were just bit players. The protagonist was confusing and I never felt as though I really knew her, even though the author was at pains to make her motivations clear. As mentioned by a previous reviewer, the editing was disappointing. I think this author has potential but needs the help and guidance of a good editor to really pull off an excellent read.

[Taryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing debut novel for this author. It was a real page turner for me filled with angst and heartfelt emotion. Loved going on the journey of this dedicated teacher. Highly recommended.

[Nicola Neil · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received this book in a Goodreads giveaway. I didn't review it when I first finished it because I felt bad about writing a negative review for a new writer, but if you publish a book you should be able to take criticism.

As other reviewers have said, the book feels like a first draft - there are lots of spelling and grammar errors and clumsy writing, and the author seems to have taken the three-act format very literally. The structure is quite repetitive - the teacher's justification for her actions set out in the first act is repeated in the third act. The Good Teacher raises some interesting issues but certain elements of the plot really stretch the limits of believability (for example, a foreign lawyer with no Australian training can't just rock up at an Australian court to represent someone). The characterisation is sketchy: the parents of the children are one-dimensional caricatures. With a good editor this could end up as a really tight novel, but in its current format, it's not worth your money.

[Melissa Burling · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was fantastic! The drama from the beginning to the drama in the courtroom. Congratulations to PJ Kelly on his first novel. I hope future books are of the same quality.

[Corina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simply written, but good character development and plot. Great holiday read!

[Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book. The characters were believable and the story line kept me engaged to the very end. The author used good descriptions of the settings and I felt I could really picture the story. I highly recommend this novel.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Feeling very conflicted on this one. I loved the suspense and drama but was let down by the ending. I finished this thinking: 'Was that it?'. In my opinion it ended too optimistically, but I understand the overall message it was trying to say.
Also, this book felt like a first draft and needed a good, thorough proofread. There were so many obvious spelling/grammatical mistakes... so much so the author couldn't distinguish between 'you're' and 'your' which unfortunately tainted my enjoyment.
I'm willing to give this author another chance, because I enjoyed some aspects of this book. However, it is not high on my radar.

[Kathy S · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. As an ex teacher I can fully empathise with the premise behind this book. The author has described the life and thoughts of a teacher so accurately. So many of us have agonised over children in our care and the abused lives they lead. I often wanted to bring a student home to give him/her a decent bath, a decent meal, clean clothes and some simple pleasant life experiences. Enjoyed the descriptions of the flight to Greece. Places I hold dearly in my travels. Miss Bell was strong, ethical character. A great page turner.

[Kirstie · Rating 1 out of 5]

The premise of this book was so good but the writing was clumsy, the character development was confusing and it desperately needed a good editor as it was riddled with spelling and grammatical errors. The potential was there, but as someone said before me - it really felt like a first draft.

[Robert Keogh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Compelling reading
P.J. Kelly’s book is one of the most outstanding literary works I have read in recent times. Even though he writes with a teacher’s cap on, his book “The good Teacher” has all the drama and true to life experiences that would resonate with many good teachers. The characters Lisa and Jacob both lower primary school pupils are subjected to abuse to which a flawed Children and Community Services Act 2004 could not or would not be applied. These attacks on the vulnerable siblings are perpetrated by their dysfunctional and pernicious parents Tracey and Gary. However, there is one good teacher in the childrens’ school, Marvel Primary, who has the courage and capacity to do something about this situation but it comes at a very great cost to her.
Miss Jessica Bell is the hero and her actions have very positive influences on many of the characters who enter the storyline. On the other hand, there are those who want to punish her severely for what she did.
Kelly develops his plots with precision, grit and determination to ensure that the reader is left under no illusion of the pain and suffering inflicted on these children but their saviour takes them to another world of love, care, opportunity and security which all children deserve. He demonstrates exemplary eruditeness in his research which makes this book a must read for serious readers with a sense of social justice. The intriguing courtroom drama is so realistic one feels present during the hearings.
The characters are so well developed that I felt I knew them well and could anticipate their responses in given situations. However there are some surprises in store.
I have no doubt that this great masterpiece, Kelly’s debut book will, with his cornucopia of talent ,catapult him into writer stardom.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I added 0.5 to my rating as it’s a debut novel. I found this novel interesting, reasonably entertaining and sometimes relatable...the front cover and blurb caught my attention as I was a PS teacher for a few decades (a 2nd career) and I saw first hand that child neglect and/or abuse does need to be challenged more often in various ways/forums. Too often teachers’ mandatory reporting doesn’t appear to be taken as seriously as it should be. So while I support this author’s dedication to the cause, I felt the initial introduction to the abusive parents, Tracey and Gary, was stereotypical, bordering on moralistic eg. Tracey’s “short black skirt and red singlet revealing more skin than was recommended for the grounds of an educational institution.” The beginning of the novel also had me questioning whether Jess Bell (the teacher) had sufficient evidence to even report this situation as child abuse (although from the start it is a clear case of neglect); further along the abuse becomes clearer. However, around that point the story becomes increasingly implausible...perhaps if it was only set in Australia (ie no OS flights involved) it would have been within the realms of possibility for me. I did enjoy the ending...highlighted how people from far and wide, not just teachers, can be on the look out for neglect and child abuse.

[Robyn Michelle · Rating 1 out of 5]

An interesting premise, engaging at times but the spelling and grammatical errors gave it an air of poor quality. At one point the author even mixed up the names of his characters. Especially disappointing as I kept thinking ‘oh dear, this author is a teacher and still can’t master the you’re/ your, too/to, principle/principal spellings’. The story lagged in the middle - any more romanticized, stereotypical descriptions of Greek islands or the female characters and I thought I may be ill. The imprisonment and court process required a hefty willing suspense of disbelief. All up, a story with promise that needed a decent editor.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great first draft. However, this is a self-published book and it really shows. There are many grammatical mistakes and simple issues like changing names, incorrect court procedures etc that make it irritating to read.

The premise is great, but there is no way that such a thing would happen in Australia, with that outcome. This could have benefited enormously from a professional editor to iron out the issues.

Characters were so incredibly stereotypical that it was laughable. Far too many unbelievable elements found in this book, that could have been tweaked to improve and create a realistic story.

[Teena · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the basic storyline of this book but was left disappointed by the execution of the story. It was the sort of topic Jodi Picoult would turn into a bestseller but was nowhere near as good Picoult’s books.
The editing left a bit to be desired, with spelling and grammatical errors.
As a postscript, I really didn’t like the physicality of this book - very heavy, with shiny pages. Is this being too picky? But it made the reading experience less pleasant than usual.

[Judy · Rating 5 out of 5]

'The Good Teacher' is a nail biter and I could not turn the pages fast enough. I never wanted to put it down but when I had to I always looked forward to the time when I could get back to it. It is very well written and you get easily absorbed in to it and the pages fly by. I recommend this book to all readers.

[Ally McLay · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book you won’t want to put down and the characters stay with you long after the end of the story. It has lots of twists and turns and mostly set in the beautiful Greek islands. You won’t regret purchasing this book. Find a comfy spot with a glass of wine and some snacks and you will be taken on an amazing journey.

[Steve Maxwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent read. The only reason I didn't give 5 stars was the alarming number of mistakes not picked up by the editor. The story is about a teacher who kidnaps a brother and sister who are being abused by their parents and are slipping through the cracks of a failing system. This book will tug at the heartstrings and cause a lot of emotional discussions.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jess Bell is a teacher in Perth, Australia. Two of her students - siblings Jacob and Lisa - are growing up with two abusive parents who only care about the government funds they receive because they have kids. When the system won't do anything to help the kids, Jess decides to take matters in her own hands.

I loved the premise of this book and thought it had a lot of potential. However, the writing was very clumsy and not tight. The story skipped around and seemed to have some missing pieces. Not a bad book, just could have used some editing and tightening of the story.

I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Kristy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great summer read, I really connected with the characters and storyline. I love a book that draws you in, immerses you in that world and makes you experience a rollercoaster of emotions. Impressive debut from a Perth author.

[Phenomenal · Rating 4 out of 5]

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[Sandy · Rating 2 out of 5]

If I were rating this book on the writing alone, it would have received one star - so many characters were one-dimensional and cliched, and so much of the prose was overblown and melodramatic. However, the interesting plotline kept me reading.

[Liz · Rating 2 out of 5]

An easy to read book, with short chapters. I really enjoyed the first half of the book, but I found the second half predictable and very "Mills and Boon" like. I had a first edition book, which was full of grammar mistakes and frustrated me no end!

[alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Good Teacher

Well researched book. Vivid descriptions but some of the sound bites were annoying. No need to report sound of a bell. Would recommend.

[Sue Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

A West Australian author. A moral and ethical dilemma. Culminating in a traditional courtroom battle it is a good read. Keep in mind that it's fiction and its local. Well worth a read.

[Lisa Bacon-hall · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the start of the book but later on felt it became predictable. Nonetheless I’m happy to have read it.

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story of a passionate teacher who kidnaps to students to protect them from a family life of abuse and neglect.