Penguin Random House

9 Memoirs for Teacher Appreciation Week

“A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.”—Henry Adams, The Education of Henry Adams 

In honor of National Teacher Appreciation Week (May 7-12, 20012), we’ve put together a collection of memoirs by remarkable teachers. Whether set in a high school in a working-class community near Boston, a university in Tehran, L.A.’s Central Juvenile Hall or an elementary school on an isolated island off South Carolina, we hope these inspirational true stories move you to thank the teachers in your lives.

The Freedom Writers Diary by The Freedom Writers and Erin Gruwell
The Water Is Wide by Pat Conroy
Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi
There Are No Shortcuts by Rafe Esquith
Letters to a Young Teacher by Jonathan Kozol
True Notebooks by Mark Salzman
Teacher by Mark Edmundson
Losing My Faculties by Brendan Halpin