{"product_id":"ms-hempel-chronicles-9781250781345","title":"Ms. Hempel Chronicles","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eMs. Hempel Chronicles\u003c\/i\u003e is a \"deeply affecting\" (\u003ci\u003eLos Angeles Times\u003c\/i\u003e) novel of a devoted young teacher finding her way\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eMs. Beatrice Hempel, teacher of seventh grade, is new--new to teaching, new to the school, newly engaged, and newly bereft of her idiosyncratic father. Grappling awkwardly with her newness, she struggles to figure out what is expected of her in life and at work. Is it acceptable to introduce swear words into the English curriculum, enlist students to write their own report cards, or bring up personal experiences while teaching a sex-education class? \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eSarah Shun-lien Bynum finds characters at their most vulnerable, then explores those precarious moments in sharp, graceful prose. From this most innovative of young writers comes another journey down the rabbit hole to the wonderland of middle school, memory, daydreaming, and the extraordinary business of growing up.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBynum, Sarah Shun-Lien:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - Sarah Shun-lien Bynum is the author of the novels \u003ci\u003eMs. Hempel Chronicles\u003c\/i\u003e, a finalist for the PEN\/Faulkner Award; and \u003ci\u003eMadeleine Is Sleeping\u003c\/i\u003e, a finalist for the National Book Award and winner of the Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize. Her fiction has appeared in many magazines and anthologies, including the \u003ci\u003eNew Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003ePloughshares\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eTin House\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Best American Short Stories, \u003c\/i\u003eand the \u003ci\u003eO. Henry Prize Stories\u003c\/i\u003e. The recipient of a Whiting Writers' Award and an NEA Fellowship, she was named one of \"20 Under 40\" fiction writers by the \u003ci\u003eNew Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e. She lives in Los Angeles.","brand":"Picador USA","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50660149362962,"sku":"9781250781345","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_7dca892e-c87e-4d98-aec2-310b1ee6c247.jpg?v=1733471125","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/ms-hempel-chronicles-9781250781345","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}