Reading with Patrick (Kuo)

Reading with Patrick:  A Teacher, a Student, and a Life-Changing Friendship
Michelle Kuo, 2017
Random House
320 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780812997316


Summary
 A life-changing friendship between an idealistic young teacher and her gifted student, jailed for murder in the Mississippi Delta

Recently graduated from Harvard University, Michelle Kuo arrived in the rural town of Helena, Arkansas, as a Teach for America volunteer in 2004, bursting with optimism and drive.

But she soon encountered the jarring realities of life in one of the poorest counties in America, still disabled by the legacy of slavery and Jim Crow.

In this stirring memoir, Kuo, the child of Taiwanese immigrants, shares the story of her complicated but rewarding mentorship of one student, Patrick Browning, and his remarkable literary and political awakening.

Convinced she can make a difference in the lives of her teenaged students, Michelle Kuo puts her heart into her work, using quiet reading time and guided writing to foster a sense of self in students left behind by a broken school system. Though Michelle loses some students to gun violence and truancy, she is inspired by students such as Patrick.

Fifteen and in the eighth grade, Patrick begins to thrive under Michelle’s exacting attention, rising to meet her rigorous expectations. However, after two years of teaching, Michelle feels pressure from her parents and the draw of opportunities outside the Delta, and leaves Arkansas to attend law school.

Years later, on the eve of her graduation, she learns that Patrick has been jailed for murder. Feeling that she had left the Delta prematurely, and determined to fix her mistake, Michelle returns to Helena and resumes Patrick’s education—even as he sits in a jail cell awaiting trial.

Every day for the next seven months they pore over classic novels, poems, and works of history. Little by little, Patrick grows into a confident, expressive writer and a dedicated reader galvanized by the works of Frederick Douglass, James Baldwin, Walt Whitman, W. S. Merwin, and others.

In her time reading with Patrick, Michelle is herself transformed, contending with the legacy of racism and the question of what the privileged owe to those with bleaker prospects.

Reading with Patrick is an inspirational story of friendship, a coming-of-age story for both a young teacher and a student, an expansive, deeply resonant meditation on education, race, and justice in the rural South, and a love letter to literature and its power to transcend social barriers. (From the publisher.)

Author Bio
• Birth—ca. 1981
• Raised—Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA
• Education—B.A., Harvard University; M.S., Cambridge University; J.D., Harvard University
• Currently—lives in Paris, France


Michelle Kuo is a Taiwanese-American lawyer, professor, and author who grew up in Kalamazoo, Michigan. She graduated from Harvard with a degree in social studies and gender studies. She has a Master's in developmental studies from Cambridge and a law degree from Harvard. Her memoir, Reading with Patrick: a Teacher, a Student and a Life-Changing Friendship, was published in 2017.

After her year at Cambridge, Kuo volunteered for Teach America and headed to rural Arkansas to teach English for two year at an alternative school. There she met Patrick Browning, who became the inspiration for her 2017 book, Reading with Patrick.

When her two years in Arkansas were up, Kuo returned to Harvard, this time to earn her law degree. As a student, Kuo became deeply involved in education advocacy and legal aid. She worked as a student attorney at the Criminal Justice Institute (a domestic violence and family mediation clinic) and the Education Law Clinic/Trauma Policy Learning Initiative.

After earning her J.D., Kuo went to Oakland, California, where she worked as a community lawyer at a nonprofit for Spanish-speaking immigrants. She also volunteered as a teacher at San Quentin as part of the Prison University Project. Finally, from 2012-13, she clerked for a judge in the U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.

Currently Kuo is a professor at the American University of Paris, in the History, Law, and Society Program. She won the university's 2016 Board of Trustees Award for Distinguished Teaching. (Author bio adapted from a variety of online sources. Retrieved 8/4/2017.)

Book Reviews
Reading with Patrick could be the most affecting book you’ll read this year. To experience such a spectrum of responses — from anger to admiration, disbelief to inspiration, helpless frustration to stand-up-and-shout-cheering — should be enough impetus to get you urgently "reading with Patrick" as soon as possible.
Christian Science Monitor


Three out of four stars!
USA Today


A powerful meditation on how one person can affect the life of another.… One of the great strengths of Reading with Patrick is its portrayal of the risk inherent to teaching.
Seattle Times


[A] tender memoir.
Oprah Magazine


(Starred review.) The author weaves her personal story with that of Patrick …. She witnesses how many Americans are trapped in a vicious cycle of poverty and comes to several of the same insights as J.D. Vance in Hillbilly Elegy.… [A] reminder of how literacy changes lives. Highly recommended. —John Rodzvilla, Emerson Coll., Boston
Library Journal


Honest, thoughtful, and humane, Kuo's book is not only a testament to a remarkable friendship, but a must-read for anyone interested in social justice and race in America. Thoughtfully provocative reading.
Kirkus Reviews

Discussion Questions
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