Alaska Northwest Books presents…
THE KIDS FROM NOWHERE
The Story Behind the Arctic Educational Miracle
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Christine Belenski, 907-278-8838/christyb@alaskanorthwestbooks.com
They had been labeled “uneducable.”
They were the children of whale and walrus hunters.
They lived on a blizzard-swept island in the Bering Sea.
Their troubled school was threatened with closure.
They had no computers and almost no books.
They spoke English as a second language.
They had little world knowledge.
Their teacher was ill.
Together they achieved what others called impossible.
In this Alaskan Stand and Deliver, a nationally acclaimed teacher and award-winning novelist shares a poignant and inspiring true story that shatters our assumptions about education in this country.
George Guthridge set out with his wife and two young daughters to a small village on the edge of remote blizzard-swept St. Lawrence Island in the Bering Sea. It is one of the harshest and most remote places in Alaska. He was there to teach at a Siberian-Yupik school so troubled it was under threat of closure. But George didn’t know that. Like many other teachers hired to work in Alaskan villages, he had accepted the position thinking about adventure and about the great pay.
In The Kids from Nowhere: The Story Behind the Arctic Educational Miracle, (Alaska Northwest Books®, November, 2006) George tells the story of his own transformation and that of his students when they are entered into one of the most difficult academic competitions in the nation. Working with few resources and with a group of students who are bright but lack focus and training, George adapts, motivates, and coaches. The students face emotional and academic difficulties that stagger the imagination. In their quest to win, they overcome fire, personal tragedy, and prejudice. They must compete against teams from schools of the gifted on subjects – such as genetic engineering and nuclear waste disposal – that the Eskimo students had never heard of before. They study while hauling water and hunting whales. They even go three days without sleep – after being exhausted from the spring walrus hunt. But they prevail: they become the only team of Native Americans in U.S. history ever to win a national championship in academics. And they do so – twice.
Hilarious, disturbing, densely atmospheric—and packed with surprises at every turn—The Kids from Nowhere is a powerful, poignant story that will make you want to cry and cheer at the same time.
Click here to request a review copy of The Kids from Nowhere |
The Kids from Nowhere is available through bookstores and online retailers nationwide. For more information about the book, please contact Christine Belenski, christyb@alaskanorthwestbooks.com
 George Guthridge has been called “the Jaime [Stand and Deliver] Escalante of Alaska” and “The Michael Jordan of the teaching of writing.” Four times he has been honored nationally as an educator for his work with Alaska Native youth. Using his methods, his rural-Alaska students have graduated from such places as MIT, Harvard, Dartmouth, West Point, Yale Law School, the University of Washington Medical School, Syracuse, and Stanford, just to name a few.
A former technical writer and science magazine editor-in-chief, he has published five novels and more than seventy short stories and novelettes, and has been a finalist three times for the Hugo and Nebula Awards for science fiction and fantasy. In 1997 he was co-winner of the Bram Stoker Award, the “Oscar” of horror writing, for Children of the Dusk. A historical novel that critics compared to Lord of the Flies and to Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, it is based on Hitler’s (real) attempt to send Europe’s Jews to Madagascar.
He is now a Professor of English at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, Bristol Bay, in Dillingham, Alaska, where he is currently creating a DVD and workbook series about his revolutionary approaches to teaching, writing, and grammar. The royalties he receives from this book will go toward building a school in the earthquake-ravaged area overseas. It will be dedicated to the Kids from Nowhere.
Early Praise for The Kids from Nowhere |
“This is a delightful visit to a small island in the Bering Sea without having to travel. The landscapes and seascapes are beautifully painted by an outsider, a non-Eskimo teacher, who learns to cherish and respect the culture of his students and the small village in which they live. It is a heart-wrenching story of a group of seemingly uneducable students who, with the coaching of their teacher, not only learn to love learning, but end up champions in a national competition."
—Jean Auel, author of Clan of the Cave Bear
“Straightforwardly, The Kids from Nowhere is a heart-lifting epic about the educational triumph of a group of Yupik Eskimo students from tiny, isolated St. Lawrence Island, Alaska. But the story unfolds on several levels at once and is equally revealing about the stunning dedication of their gifted teacher and guide, George Guthridge.”
—Barry Lopez, award-winning author of Arctic Dreams
“The Kids from Nowhere is proof that people everywhere can accomplish amazing feats when given educational tools and instruction that fit their way of life and thinking. George Guthridge’s poignant book is about hope rekindled in the icy north, and how a teacher learned to move from ‘teaching’ students to ‘reaching’ them. Read this book and discover how young people truly can learn commitment to a cause that, they come to realize, is much, much bigger than they ever initially imagined.”
—Greg Mortenson, builder of schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan and coauthor of New York Times bestseller Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Fight Terrorism and Build Nations One School at a Time
“No kids are more neglected than the kids of our Native Nations. This book is a welcome remedy to that lack of attention. It’s inspiring as well as being well-written, the kind of tale that every teacher and every coach should respond to. I can’t recommend it highly enough.”
—Joseph Bruchac, Abenaki writer and storyteller, author of Jim Thorpe: Original All-American
“Beautifully written, The Kids from Nowhere is a victorious account of one teacher’s journey with his Eskimo students from the edge of nowhere to the brink of endless promise.”
—Janet Berliner, coauthor of Artifact
“Struggle is not unusual in the Arctic, but the struggle for intellectual accomplishment and personal integrity takes a new twist in this compelling and engaging narrative. . . .Guthridge’s writing is immaculate and heartfelt as he skillfully explores village life, educational practice, and the desire to succeed.”
—James Ruppert Ph.D., coeditor of Our Voices: Native Stories of Alaska and the Yukon
“We often talk about problems facing education. Guthridge offers solid solutions.”
—Profs. John Creed and Susan Andrews, editors of Authentic Alaska: Voices of its Native Authors
“What a remarkable accomplishment!” —Grace Corrigan (mother of Christa McAuliffe)
ABOUT ALASKA NORTHWEST BOOKS®
Alaska Northwest Books® (established 1959) became an imprint of Graphic Arts Center Publishing Company in the fall of 1992. The premier publisher of books about Alaska, Alaska Northwest Books® specializes in history, natural history, biography, travel adventure, Native heritage, factbooks, cooking, guidebooks, and children's books by Alaskans and about Alaska. Our titles have received numerous awards for excellence, including the Benjamin Franklin Award, the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Award, the Washington State Governorís Writers Award, the National Outdoor Book Award, the Children's Book Council Award, the National Science Teachers Award, and the Willa Cather Award.
Graphic Arts Center Publishing, Alaska Northwest Books, and WestWinds Press are registered trademarks of Graphic Arts Center Publishing Company. All contents in this email copyright 2001-2004, Graphic Arts Center Publishing Company unless otherwise noted. Unauthorized use or reproduction without written permission is prohibited.
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