The Class: A Life-Changing Teacher, His World-Changing Kids, and the Most Inventive Classroom in America

Tesoriero, a former TV news producer and newspaper reporter, captures with humor and empathy the lives and dreams of an extraordinary group of students in an honors science class in wealthy Greenwich, CT. Chapters alternate between the points of view of former corporate scientist and devoted teacher Andy Bramante and some of his star pupils, many of whom are from immigrant families. Bramante's students stand out in the competitive science fair circuit. Tesoriero exhaustively details their science projects—an affordable test for Ebola, a treatment for Lyme disease—along with their admissions to Harvard, Stanford, and MIT. Not only are they incredibly intelligent and unfailingly likable but the girls all seem to be "head-swirlingly gorgeous," with one of the boys described as "handsome, popular, and a walking study in cool." Although the multiple viewpoints can be confusing to follow, Tesoriero makes a strong case for the importance of science and inspirational teachers.