ALL OF THE ABOVE
by Shelley Pearsall
Little, Brown and Company
ISBN-10: 031611524X
ISBN-13: 9780316115247
Ages 8-12
258 pages

Washington Middle School is at a dead end, both literally and figuratively: "We know there's a lot of people out there who think our school is a dead end. And that all the kids inside it are dead ends, too." Located in a poor, inner-city section of Cleveland, Ohio, Washington Middle is full of kids who have given up already, whose families and community have given up on them as well.

Frustrated by the kids' lack of enthusiasm, math teacher Mr. Collins hatches a plan based in desperation. He's just read about a school in California that broke the record for the largest tetrahedron ever constructed. Why, he asks his students, can't they break that record right there in Cleveland? His after-school club for constructing the tetrahedron is met with skepticism by some students, with cautious enthusiasm or outright rejection by others.

The four students who become regulars in Collins's after-school group all have their own reasons for participating --- from James, who chooses between attending math club and failing math class, to Sharice, who sees the club as an inviting alternative to another lonely afternoon in the public library. There's also Rhondell, who has big plans to be the first person in her family to attend college, and Marcel, whose after-school job at his dad's barbecue joint threatens his ongoing participation in the project.

Together, the kids (and their teacher, family members and friends) gradually use the after-school meetings to make friends, form connections and explore their unique talents, all while learning some pretty amazing math lessons. When vandals destroy the giant tetrahedron, though, the kids' commitment to the project is sorely tested. All of a sudden, their record-breaking project becomes not just a math project, but a symbol for their whole lives: "When you have a dream and you see it broken right in front of your eyes, it makes you think that maybe you never should have dreamed it in the first place. It makes you feel like not taking any risks or dreaming any dreams that are too big for yourself again, because you can't tell which ones to trust or what to believe in." Narrated in various chapters by all the kids and by the adults in their lives, ALL OF THE ABOVE demonstrates the meaning of a big dream in the lives of a school and a neighborhood too used to having their dreams shattered.

On the surface, ALL OF THE ABOVE bears a lot of resemblance to "inspiring teacher turns inner-city school around" movies such as Stand and Deliver or Dangerous Minds. In ALL OF THE ABOVE, though, the ongoing motivation for the project comes not only from the teacher (who actually isn't that charismatic) but from the kids themselves, making the story that much more powerful. It is a "feel-good" novel that inspires readers without manipulating or condescending to them and that offers compelling stories without trite endings and easy answers.

   --- Reviewed by Norah Piehl

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