Second Draft of My Life

Amazon.com Review:
Charlotte Dearborn has just abandoned her career as a novelist to become an elementary school teacher. The likable, sad-sack heroine of Sara Lewis's fourth novel, Second Draft of My Life, Charlotte hasn't failed as a writer--her novels had all been praised by critics--but she is flailing financially, and at age 42 feels that a regular paycheck, benefits, and a chance to shape young minds surely outweigh the solitude, poverty, and constant disappointments of the writing life. At least that's what she tells herself. To prove her point, most of the chapters open with a recollection of a specific letdown in her literary career: the last-minute cancellation of a talk-show appearance; slow book distribution that wastes hard-won publicity; a rejection from a much-admired editor. This book will be a painful read for any professional writer, since hard knocks of this kind are no exaggeration. Luckily, Charlotte's troubles will seem comic to everyone else who reads this funny, well-crafted tale. As it turns out, Charlotte is stepping onto a road that will lead her back to her writing and her better, forgotten self. Like Robert Peck's assertion that everything important in life can be learned in kindergarten, Charlotte's survival proves that anyone who learns to handle a class of first-graders can handle anything at all. --Regina Marler

No "electric sparkle" here:
Reading this book you can't help but compare author Sara Lewis to her main character Charlotte Dearborn. Charlotte is writer who despite having five of her novels published (with awful titles), is not successful. Sara has written a comprable number of novels with similarly uninventive titles (although I really don't know how successful she's been). I couldn't help thinking that if Charlotte writes like Sara, no wonder her writing career never took off. I am an educator, I generally like books about teachers, but most of this story came off trite, dull, and pedestrian. Like reading someone's diary who records the mundane comings and goings of their not-so-interesting life. I don't have issues with details or descriptions in books, but I need to feel it's there for a reason. So much of it seemed like filler. Also, her teaching experience didn't ring true. Maybe it's because I've taught in NYC as opposed to affluent Southern California suburbs, but the situations she describes as challenging would be a dream come true for most teachers who teach in inner city public schools. Through most of the book I just wanted to shake Charlotte and say "Quit whining, you deluded, clueless, white woman!" (I specify "white" because I there weren't any non-white characters in this story despite the fact it took place in southern California!). I struggled to get through this book and did so only because I had nothing else to read on my long train commute. If you want a truly great book about teaching by a smart, funny, sassy white woman teaching real and believable students, try "Educating Esme: Diary of a Teacher's First Year" by Esme Raji Codell.

Maybe a third draft would have helped:
I enjoyed Lewis's earlier novel The Answer is Yes quite a bit, so I was all the more disappointed by this terrible, annoying book. The narrator is a novelist tired of obscurity and disappointment, although she's published five books, and so decides to give up writing and become a first-grade teacher. (One of the few funny moments in this supposedly comic novel is when her fellow teachers say "You got into teaching for the money?") She's 42 but has neither the maturity nor the insight her age and profession would suggest. The teaching scenes are painful, because she's a terrible, ineffective teacher with no control over her classroom, and while this pains her, it's also played for laughs--and it's just not funny. Plus, this novel is full of all the most boring and obvious things to say about writing and the writing process. And how does the character find redemption? Does it involve writing? Would you believe it's by writing a crappy inspirational book of the type sold in cardboard display cases by bookstore checkout counters? There's more to hate, much much more, but you get the idea.

Too much griping, ending too pat:
I wanted to like this book, but I found the main character, Charlotte, to be whiny and boring. Instead of taking control and trying to change the things she didn't like about her life, she just complained about them. Each chapter began with a long, drawn out memory of some awful experience related to the debut of one of her books. I found myself liking her sister, Emily, much better than I liked Charlotte, which was unfortunate for a book told in the first-person. Then, after I spent 90% of the book waiting for Charlotte to just get on with things, the author wrapped it all up in a nice, tidy little package - only slightly longer and with slightly more details than "and they all lived happily ever after." It was a disappointing read - I'm glad I got it from the library and was just as happy to give it back.

I Think I'm Going to Home School My Future Kids. . .:
For me, this book was right down the middle. I was mildly interested in Charlotte's journey when it began, but as she approached having her "crisis," change of faith, and subsequent renewal, I started getting annoyed. I never appreciated her attitude of how teaching would be an easy career move and her overall flightiness throughout the course of the novel definitely started to wear on me. Traveling to meet the author of the book she read to her children because she was convinced he was her soul mate? And what's worse - realizing that the students would respect her more if she dressed more traditionally or actually wearing what she did in the first place? I don't think I can respect a character like that, so not surprisingly I didn't love Charlotte. Nor, actually, did I love any of the characters in the book. The other teachers offered little help, and the many potential men in Charlotte's life left much to be desired. However, I can't say that I hated this book. If that were the case, I probably would have abandoned it without having finished it. But somehow I felt Sara Lewis had something in there; I just don't think it was entirely brought to the surface. I feel her "overall" message was good but maybe Charlotte was just not the right person to tell it. In fact, it would probably be fair to say that if the most redeeming part of the book was the inspirational message, then it might as well have come in the form of one of those little, thought-provoking gift books that appear on book store counters, if we're being honest, and of course, ironic. I'm really not why exactly I didn't like the book more, but I think at some point that I'll try to read another book by the author and see if I like it any better. When all is said and done though, this book certainly made me think twice about grammar school education and who would be teaching my kids. Take that as you will.

Great book for teachers needing to step back and really look at life:
When I first picked this book up, I really thought it would be another sappy silly love story about another perfect brilliant beauty.... NOT SO! The main character of this book is very down to earth and realistic, which is obvious by her complete lack of fashion knowledge and addiction to brownies! In the beginning of the story, I felt that the main character (Charlotte Deaborn) had a much too high opinion of herself. She believed that people owed her some kind of recognition, and almost blamed those in her employ for her failures in writing the perfect novel. However, over the span of a single school year, I really felt that she did learn humility in the oddest of places - in a first grade classroom. Her cry for help to her fellow colleagues, as well as her never ending search for that special someone, blessed her with a charming new perspective on life as well as a renewed passion for doing what she loved most - writing! This book is all about the main characters journey to learn how to like herself, and her situation, in the process of helping a group of wild and entertaining first graders. Being a retired teacher myself, I could completely identify with Charlotte Dearborn's views and opinions of how a typical school runs - it almost felt as though I were reliving that entire experience with her. Although I did find the first part of the book to drag a bit, I really did enjoy this light read. The overall theme of the book may come across as a bit cliche', it really is a story of self discovery and an attempt to motivate people of all ages to follow their dreams no matter the costs. If you want a book that is both light hearted AND thought provoking, this would be a great book for you!