I Am a Pencil: A Teacher His Kids and Their World of Stories

Swopes marvelous moving book revives the teaching memoir . . . And takes it to new realms of tenderness insight and humanity. -Phillip Lopate. In 1995 writer Sam Swope gave a workshop to a third-grade class in a Queens school bursting at the seams with kids from around the world. So enchanted was he with his twenty-eight students that he adopted the class for three years teaching them to write stories and poems. I Am a Pencil is the story of his years with this very special group of students. It is as funny warm heartbreaking and hopeful as the children themselves. . Swope follows his colorful troop of resilient writers from grades three to five coaxing out their stories watching talents blossom explode and sometimes fizzle. We meet Cindy (whose mom was a Taoist priestess) Brian (who cannot seem to tell the truth) and Lourdes (a wacky Dominican chatterbox). Preparing his students for a world of adult dangers Swope is astonished by their courage their humanity and most of all their strength. I Am a Pencil is a book about the power and magic of imagination providing a unique window on the immigrant experience as seen through the lives of children.