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2026 Reading Challenge

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Kenneth Chanko

Goodreads Author

Born

in Manhattan, The United States

Website

https://www.kennethchanko.com

Genre

Fiction, Contemporary

Member Since

May 2012

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/kennethchanko

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Kenneth Chanko's debut novel, "Exit Tickets," was inspired by his ten years of teaching in Manhattan and South Bronx public schools. A former entertainment journalist whose byline has appeared in The New York Times, New York magazine and Entertainment Weekly, Chanko switched careers in 2005 to become a New York City public school teacher.

"Exit Tickets" has been hailed by Publishers Weekly as "a powerful, realistic portrayal of life in the American public education system," with the novel being awarded PW's "Editor's Pick" in its January 12th, 2026, issue. And Kirkus Reviews has praised it as "a masterful tapestry of strife and resiliency." Chanko is currently working on a sequel to "Exit Tickets."

Please visit: www.kennethchanko.com ...more

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Popular Answered Questions

Hi, I am excited to read this book whether I win the giveaway or not. I teach in NYC as well, going into year 18 as a career changer via the Teaching Fellows and it has been super rewarding and super challenging. I wish you the best of luck on this new venture of yours! I am interested in writing too, how did you find the shift from full-time teaching to full-time writing?

Kenneth Chanko Hi Eric,

Thanks so much for your message and for your interest in my novel. I think you'll enjoy reading "Exit Tickets."

Going into Year 18 -- impressiv…moreHi Eric,

Thanks so much for your message and for your interest in my novel. I think you'll enjoy reading "Exit Tickets."

Going into Year 18 -- impressive!

I also got into teaching via the NYC Teaching Fellows (I'd been an editor/entertainment journalist/film critic, having majored in journalism at UW/Madison), at the age of 46, or maybe I was 47. I taught for 10 years, one year at the D75 school where my novel is, essentially, set, and then the last nine years at a school in the South Bronx.

(I didn't exactly make it too difficult for discerning readers familiar with the NYC DOE to figure out, from the novel, which school I actually taught in; I just reversed the school's trio of digits: in my book it's P.S. 961, and in reality, it is the RFK School 169, on 88th bet Park/Lex.)

Where do you teach, and what grade(s)? Let me know. I'm curious.

If you'd be interested in a 10-min appetite-whetter blog post read before starting my novel, go here, at your convenience:

https://www.kennethchanko.com/post/ru...

It's where you'll find the 'origin story,' for lack of a better phrase, of my book's creation. I think you'll find it intriguing, involving as it does my arrest by the NYPD while teaching in the South Bronx. Yup, no kidding.

Okay, this is almost assuredly more than you bargained for.

But if you'd like to stay in touch, that would be great. We could take this to email. My address is: ken@kennethchanko.com -- and it can also be found on my website: www.kennethchanko.com

In fact, I'd like to get your email address, assuming you'd be okay with sharing it, in order to put you on my list of folks who from time to time get my emailed newsletter, which involve updates on what I'm up to as related to my writing life (I'm currently working on the first draft of a sequel to "Exit Tickets"). Or, we could just continue to communicate here on Goodreads.

Whichever works best for you, I look forward to keeping in touch, if you'd be so inclined. Enjoy the rest of your summer off!

Oh, and good luck on the Giveaway. I will be alerted about who the five lucky winners will be by the end of this week.

Best,
Ken
email: ken@kennethchanko.com
New York, NY(less)

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Kenneth Chanko’s books

Average rating: 4.48 · 44 ratings · 27 reviews · 1 distinct work • Similar authors

Exit Tickets

4.48 avg rating — 44 ratings — published 2025 — 3 editions

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Kenneth Chanko's Blog

Rubber Room Writings

If I hadn’t been arrested on Valentine’s Day in 2014, you wouldn’t be reading this. There’d be no blog because there’d be no book.

Not that I want to spoil your reading of my debut novel—I know you’re eager to get your hands on "Exit Tickets" (pub date: Nov 18)—but that agonizing experience provided me with the time to start scribbling and informed the plot of "Exit Tickets."

Not, however, while I w Read more of this blog post »

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Published on November 14, 2025 04:41 • Tags: the-origin-story-of-exit-tickets

Kenneth is Currently Reading

Kenneth Chanko is currently reading

Good Muslim, Bad Muslim: America, the Cold War, and the Roots of Terror

by Mahmood Mamdani

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Jun 26, 2026 07:14AM

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Kenneth Chanko rated a book it was amazing The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Not only is Strout up to her usual subtle brilliance here, but she now, at least with this latest short novel, seems to be stripping her story and language down to life's essential epiphanies, revealing her characters' inner lives with a rare incande ...more
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Kenneth Chanko and 2 other people liked Jill Dobbe's review of No Land to Stand On: Notes from Detention: "A truly exceptional book that everyone should read. Khalil lays out the truth behind his abduction and detention instigated by Trump and Rubio. He does nothing illegal; his only "crime" is speaking up for Palestinians. Because of that, he is labeled " Read more of this review »
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Kenneth Chanko rated a book it was amazing Cool Machine (The Harlem Trilogy, #3) by Colson Whitehead (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Best for last. Or maybe I'm feelin' it because this one moves Whitehead's Ray Carney saga ahead into the early-to-mid-'80s, when I was in my 20s and back livin' in Manhattan. Even so, it seemed to me Whitehead was having the most fun writing this one ...more
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Kenneth’s Quotes

“Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.”
― Groucho Marx, The Essential Groucho: Writings For By And About Groucho Marx

tags: animals, books, dogs, friends, humor

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