Prologue
Jake Hutson had been having the same dream every night for a week. It always began with Ms. Carter, his ninth grade history teacher at Westside High School, on the upper west side of Manhattan, pacing the front of the classroom. Her speed increased a little each time she crossed from window to door to window.
By the time she shouted, “One more minute,” she had reached a full gallop, and was whipping her yardstick mercilessly when anyone lifted their eyes off their desk.
A slender black woman with frosted hair in her early fifties, she was a no-nonsense kind of teacher. Very tough.
It didn't bother Jake that she'd been in his dreams the last few nights or that it was always the same dream. But what he couldn't bear anymore was
Jake Hutson had been having the same dream every night for a week. It always began with Ms. Carter, his ninth grade history teacher at Westside High School, on the upper west side of Manhattan, pacing the front of the classroom. Her speed increased a little each time she crossed from window to door to window.
By the time she shouted, “One more minute,” she had reached a full gallop, and was whipping her yardstick mercilessly when anyone lifted their eyes off their desk.
A slender black woman with frosted hair in her early fifties, she was a no-nonsense kind of teacher. Very tough.
It didn't bother Jake that she'd been in his dreams the last few nights or that it was always the same dream. But what he couldn't bear anymore was