New York Times Bestseller: The “miraculous” memoir of an inspiring teacher and the students who changed his life on an impoverished South Carolina island (Newsweek). Though the children of Yamacraw Island live less than two miles from the southern mainland, they can’t name the US president or the ocean that surrounds them. Most can’t read or write. Many of the students are the descendants of … students are the descendants of slaves, handicapped by poverty and isolation.
When Pat Conroy arrives, an eager young teacher at the height of the civil rights movement, he finds a community still bound by the bitter effects of racism, but he is determined to broaden its members’ horizons and give them a voice.
In this poignant memoir, which Newsweek called “an experience of joy,” the New York Times–bestselling author of The Prince of Tides plumbs his experiences as a young teacher on an isolated South Carolina island to reveal the shocking inequalities of the American education system.
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Reading Pat Conroy is a delicious language fest. This book, written as fiction, is actually a memoir. It is a glimpse into a world those of us who aren’t from the South don’t know and don’t really understand. A wonderful read.
Conroy’s second book. When he was a fiery, idealistic college grad, he spent a rocky year teaching illiterate children on an island off South Carolina. Most didn’t even know they lived in the U.S. or what the whole alphabet was. He changed their lives. They changed his. He got in a lot of trouble with the authorities. The ending is quite poignant. …
The Water is Wide: A Memoir by Pat Conroy is an exceptionally good read. The story is based on his teaching experience on Daufuskie Island, off the South Carolina coast, which is called Yamacraw Island in the book.
In 1969, when Conroy arrived on the island, it was still quite primitive. Most of the families didn’t have running water, nor did the …
important reading.
I read this to learn about education in an out of the way place off the coast of SC. It was inspirational. I learned so much and got inservice credit at school. I strongly recommend, and then I reread it before it was offered to me on bookbub.
This is one of the best books about being a teacher that I have ever read.
The great writer, Pat Conroy’s first book. Insight into the educational situation on the South Carolina low country islands and a good look at Conroy’s early years.
No one wrote about the low country of South Carolina better than Conroy.
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The story was true and very inspirational!
I enjoyed the way the author introduced us to the characters and flowed the story around them.
Just a wonderful true story about my favorite author. If you are a Pat Conroy fan read this book. You will love it.
Beautiful writing . Cannot put it down.
The most wonderful author ever. Sad he’s gone
I love this book. It’s touching and incredibly well written. I’ve read every book Pat Conroy wrote and this my favorite.
As is typical of Pat Conroy, this story is rich in detail of life in a place many would not otherwise know. As a Southerner of the old school himself, he is assigned the singular teaching post on an island separated by a narrow waterway from the mainland, just off shore from Beaufort , South Carolina. There he takes up the challenges in providing …
This was a hard book to read for me as the children are treated so horrifically. Sad on too many fronts but I highly recommend it to those who want to know what has gone on in other areas of this country.
Loved this book.
As a teacher and believer in equality of education, i loved this book. It is tragic, even today, that educational systems such as this still occur. What is encouraging is that the way individual teachers teach is more acceptable, and those with cruel methods are not tolerated, at least in most places. I loved that he used music and the arts to …
Not what I was expecting but an interesting social perspective
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This was laborious for much of the book, mainly due to the topic. Dealing with the educational setting off the coast of South Carolina, with an uneducated black group of unsocialized children was trying,at best. As an educator, I understood the challenges and successes, as well as the trials in dealing with upper level school system staff who …
Once again, I didn’t like the rough language used by the teacher.