Title: School Wasn’t Always Awesome
Author: Justin Treisch
Publisher: AuthorHouse
ISBN: 1728338972
Pages: 38
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
Reviewed by: Liz Konkel

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School for Michael isn’t fun and only causes him stress. Summers are exciting and everything goes along swimmingly, but every time the school year starts, he becomes anxious and nervous. In kindergarten, he found it hard to concentrate with each school year that follows, making him dread the next even more. Second grade was even more overwhelming than first when his teacher shared so many policies and procedures that his mood immediately sours. By third grade, he has come to despise school and it doesn’t help that his baseball friends go to another school. His progression in school soon becomes bleak, and by the time he’s in fourth grade it came with regression in math and reading. Fifth grade changes everything for him when he has a teacher that takes the time to understand that each student learns differently.

The story gives a voice to the importance of how a teacher can impact a child’s life through the way they teach, which can make children love learning as well as hate it. School Wasn’t Always Awesome has the goal of helping children who are struggling at school by showing them someone else struggling like they are. Not every child has it easy in school and each child learns in a different way which is reflected through Michael’s educational journey. The story weaves through various school years as Michael goes from amazing summers to stressful school years. His struggles start in kindergarten with the resulting anxiety and feelings of not being able to do anything right. The anxiety Michael struggles with will help parents start a conversation with their children about how they’re feeling in their classes and will help children to be more open about any struggles they may be dealing with.

The story highlights common struggles for children which includes being unable to concentrate, finding it hard to understand subjects, and difficulty with assignments. The story explores these struggles while also showing what he excels at and what makes him comfortable. Justin Treisch shines on the importance of teachers through Michael’s various experiences with bad teachers which makes him shut down with school while one good teacher makes his whole school change. The role in which teachers have in a child’s life is pertinent to engaging a child in learning. The story also touches upon the role of Michael’s parents in noticing how school makes him anxious and stressed while also seeing what makes him feel at ease. The role of the parents allows for parents to see signs of growing frustration and lack of motivation in their children.

This engaging story gives parents a way to notice the struggles in their own children and for children to see themselves, while also giving a resource for teachers to see the role they have in their students wanting to learn. The story goes through various bad teachers in Michael’s life which show the evolution of his stress that makes him shut off from learning more and more. By the end, Michael finally gets a teacher that takes the time to listen and evaluate the best ways to help his students, which engages him with a love of learning. School wasn’t Always Awesome is an ideal story for teachers, parents, and students through a lesson in educational struggles, learning, a teacher’s guidance, and patience.