The Girls in the Back of the Class

by LouAnne Johnson

Her classroom was the last stop for a group of troubled kids. Teacher LouAnne Johnson, the petite ex-Marine of Dangerous Minds, was their last chance. The boys, like handsome Latino Julio Escovar, expected to end up in jail. The girls, like regal, golden-skinned Simoa, often mysteriously disappeared. But not in LouAnne Johnson's class.

Risking her life, and her heart, LouAnne cajoled, bribed, and loved these teens. She went out on tough urban streets to track down Simoa, she faced a dangerously angry father to get pretty, talented Araceli into art school, and she fought drug pushers, trouble-making dropouts, and burned-out teachers to leave her kids alone. Her goal was to get her kids to graduation. Her method? Believe in them...until they believed in themselves.

Genres: Nonfiction, Education, Teaching, Biography, Memoir

291 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published May 1, 1995

About the author

LouAnne Johnson is a former U.S. Navy journalist, Marine Corps officer, high school teacher, and the author of The New York Times bestseller Dangerous Minds (originally My Posse Don't Do Homework). In 1989, LouAnne began teaching reading and writing to non-English speakers as an intern at a high school in California. Since then LouAnne has taught English, adult basic education, developmental reading and writing at high schools and colleges. She also designs and presents workshops in classroom management and motivation. LouAnne has presented keynote and commencement addresses to numerous organizations, including the National School Boards Association, the National Council on Curriculum Development, National University and the European Council of International Schools. She has appeared on several TV shows, including Oprah, CBS Eye to Eye, NBC Weekend Today, Maury Povich, Tom Snyder, and CNN."

At present, she lives in rural New Mexico with her adopted canine companion, Nellie, and an adjunct instructor for an online alternative licensure program for future teachers.

Reviews

[Destanee · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot if not all of these interactions she had with her students would not fly in today’s climate but she did what she had to to get through to the kids. For me there wasn’t enough focus on the girls, her stories somehow always ended back to the male students. All in all a good cliche 90s book.

[Lisa Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

A no holds barred account of her teaching. Had to stop reading a few time as I confess I was crying so much. Would recommend reading her other book (my pose don't do homework) first as it fits better timeline-wise. Glad there are people like this in the world.

[Stephanie Sirois · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disjointed writing. I was never sure what was a flashback and what was new. As far as the title goes, it seems incorrect seeing as how she spent the majority of the book talking about the boys.

[Angela]

this book probably started the girls empowerment movement, or at the least, helped it along.

[Courtney · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very heartwarming story in a follow-up to the book Dangerous Minds (which was also adapted into a movie). It is about a teacher, Louanne Johnson and her work with a high school class called the Academy. The Academy is geared towards students who are likely to drop out of high school. These kids all come from neighborhoods ridden with gangs, violence, and parents with very low incomes. Louanne works hard with each student, so they can graduate and get good jobs and hopefully get out of their neighborhoods.

I loved this book! I loved how hard Louanne worked with each student, and never gave up on them, even when that seemed like the easy thing to do. It's a great book for anyone who has ever felt like giving up, but succeeded due to one special person in their lives.

[Rants and Bants · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just reread the excerpt of this from Amazon. It's really heartfelt. Raul was one of my favorite characters in these 2 books and in the movie. Speaking of, I can't really decide whether I liked the books or movie more, because they're so different. I suppose the movie is more dramatic and exciting, but there were an awful lot of brats in the movie too, and it was more exaggerated, whereas in the book it wasn't like that and there were more details. Like how later on Louanne Johnson and Raul (after he graduates) go to Texas I think...? For some reason, and they're sleeping in the same house one night but she sees something in the dark and it turns out to be a tarantula...ick. I'll have to somehow get a hold of this book again and reread it sometime to refresh my memory.

[Kelley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perfect book for me to read as I’m gearing up for back to school. I’d already read some excepts from this book a million times in an old issue of Reader’s Digest but it was still a really good read to pick up on the missing pieces. It makes you hurt for LouAnne as she struggles against ineffective administrators and messed-up family lives. It also makes me realize that teacher burnout really can happen and its something I’d like to avoid.

[MK · Rating 3 out of 5]

I remember liking these books and the movie based on it when I was younger. Now that I'm older, I see a lot of the problems with them (such as the antidote about someone attempting to claim “racism” when they were the one who deliberately acted like a suspicious thug towards an innocent stranger) and this type of genre in general. That said, there were some pretty interesting stories in these two books.

[Dale · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the genre of To Sir With Love, etc etc, a teacher memoire of a young white female keen to help her black and hispanic students turn their lives around. She's aware of her drawbacks, doesn't come across as an angel, and writes well, and if you like this sort of book, you'll like this book.

[Lindsay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sequel to My Posse Don't Do Homework

[Shelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read a lot about the boys in her class, but couldn't figure out why the title said the book was about the girls.

[Jules · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is amazing and I relate well with the teacher in the book.

[Lee Savino · Rating 4 out of 5]

From the author of Dangerous Minds. She is from a small town (Youngsville PA) near my hometown of Warren PA. Thought I would give her books a try. Very easy read.

[Elisia Crawford · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book for teachers to read! I had to read it as a part of my schooling and really enjoyed it.