Ms. Hempel Chronicles

Ms. Hempel Chroniclesby Sarah Shun-Lien BynumCourtesy of Harcourt (distributed by Raincoast)It has been over a week since I finished this book and aside from not quite having the time to write up a review, I have also had trouble figuring out what to write for this post. It's not that I didn't enjoy the book - because I did. It's just that it's different than anything I have read and because of the way it's written it makes it hard to summarize the story.Ms. Hempel is a middle-school teacher. She teaches grades 7 and 8. (Which I think is middle school... here in Quebec it's considered a part of high school.) Aside from the occasional flash-back, the main character is referred to as Ms. Hempel throughout the book. It is only in these brief glimpses into Ms. Hempel's past that she is referred to by her first name, Beatrice.Ms. Hempel is a young teacher and trying to figure things out about life, as many of us do as we grow up. But it's not so much a story about Ms. Hempel's teaching as it is about her journey through her life and the decisions and choices she makes. Her memories of her youth as an alternative, punk-type teen to her new engagement and fiance. There are details about students and colleagues and family members and so on that make them more than just superficial side-characters even though they aren't actually very active in the story so much as in Ms. Hempel's mind.The words flowed wonderfully on the page and I fell into a comforting rhythm while reading, but there wasn't ever really a climax or denouement to the story. The last chapter (though they were more like sections of the book than chapters) leaps into the future, sort of out of the blue, confused me, but also made me smile as Ms. Hempel meets a former student who tells her that she is fondly remembered and talked about as the best teacher they ever had. She was more than a teacher, she was a friend.And although I found the summary on the back of the book to be slightly misleading as to what was actually inside the cover, I am happy I picked this book up from Mini Book Expo because it had depth and wasn't just a book of fluff (like I generally like to read. Heh!).