Book Review: "Your Story Starts Here"

By Jim Zervanos

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Our culture is so full of memes — especially about American high school students as being any number of negative things: lazy, spoiled, distracted — that I loved reading about the real and stirring interactions between Jim Zervanos and his students, and his relationship to teaching in these complicated times.

An English teacher in a Philadelphia suburb, the author uses his essays to show the various strengths and vulnerabilities of his students, as well as the pressures they face. Plagiarism. Poor grammar. Student writing that’s insightful and raw. The vibe of student-teacher joking around. Real life in the teachers’ lunch room. I particularly enjoyed the author’s essay about a Hispanic student named Rodrigo, who wrote about being called a derogatory name, his refusal to swallow the slur, and his ability to joke, if bitterly, about the word itself.

What I loved, too, is how the author reveals how his life as a teacher, and what happens in his classroom, informs how he acts at home with his wife and two sons, and vice versa. That if we apply our values evenly — our love, patience and belief in others — what happens in one locale should be consistent with what happens in the other.

Sometimes serious, sometimes light, and often insightful, the tone and scope of this collection proves moving and relevant in this time of great world change.

You can also find this review of YOUR STORY STARTS HERE: A Year on the Brink With Generation Z on Goodreads. Jim Zervanos is also the author of the memoir THAT TIME I GOT CANCER.

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For updates about Martha’s forthcoming books, news and giveaways, subscribe to her website: MarthaEngber.com.

SCATTERED LIGHT, a novel, sequel to WINTER LIGHT, (Nov. 2025)

THE FALCON, THE WOLF AND THE HUMMINGBIRD a historical novel

BLISS ROAD, a memoir

WINTER LIGHT, a novel, in paperback and audiobook

THE WIND THIEF, a novel

GROWING GREAT CHARACTERS, a resource for writers