Reading with Patrick by Michelle Kuo

READING WITH PATRICK by Michelle Kuo is subtitled “A Teacher, a Student, and a Life-Changing Friendship.” Even before this book was published, I was mentioning it to teachers who are looking for an alternative read to possibly pair with The Other Wes Moore. Michelle Kuo was a Teach for America participant in Arkansas in 2004 where she met Patrick Browning, a young man who learned to love reading, literature and writing.  Sadly, Patrick later is incarcerated on a murder charge; as a result, Kuo returns from Harvard Law School to spend more time with him.  READING WITH PATRICK is eye-opening in terms of the poor quality of education available, the attitudes towards corporal punishment and the level of poverty, much like Teacher by Michael Copperman (written about his time in Teach for America) or Pat Conroy's classic, The Water is Wide. Although also reminiscent of J.D. Vance’s Hillbilly Elegy, Kuo expands her focus to include the redeeming benefits of literacy, plus race relations and the legal process.  

Christian Science Monitor said READING WITH PATRICK “could be the most affecting book you’ll read this year,” and we plan to consider it for our faculty book group discussion. Starred review from Library Journal, with a forward by Wes Moore.