Growing Up American

The heart of this book is a case study that responds essentially to the question, What is an American high school like? This discussion of the classroom experience, the vast extracurricular program, the money-raising activities, the student diaries, and the reflections of seniors on their school days captures the reality of school life in many American communities. The author wants students of American schools to read this study and say, "So this is the way it is." More than a case study of a school, however, this book is intended to portray the integral relationship between school and community in a rural area. This portrayal was essentially shaped by a central idea that orders the mass of collected data: the survival of community.