Reading, Writing, and Rage : The Terrible Price Paid by Victims of School Failure

This non-fictional account of Tony Petri, learning disabled but gifted teenager, is written in compelling docudrama form to help the reader understand:

*the controlled rage that is a hidden byproduct of school failure;
*the frustration of the help-seeking process;
*the powerlessness of everyone involved in that process--students, families, teachers, and helping professionals;
*the ultimate hope for reversal of both the failure and the rage.

By reconstructing Tony's life and each affront to his sensitivies and self-worth, we see another kind of failure--not of the boy but of the school and professional systems--failure to listen to what was really happening for Tony, and failure to really communicate with each other.