Review: "Little Miss Teacher" by Cassandra O'Sullivan Sachar

Candace Turner, a high-school English teacher fresh out of college, isn't entirely prepared for what her first year of teaching will entail. On top of the countless papers to grade, not to mention the students who are wholly uninterested in learning, there's the fact that Candace is starting to experience grown-up life (with all of its growing pains) for herself. When she runs into an old crush, and when she experiences the affections of a fellow teacher, Candace learns that it's not that easy navigating love and life in the 21st century.

Little Miss Teacher tells the story of first-year teacher Candace as she navigates the often difficult halls of the high school that she teaches in. Her story was not short of adventures, both in and outside of school, and Cassandra O'Sullivan Sachar gives us an interesting peek into the life behind a teacher's desk. Sachar balances the more serious moments with some funny and embarrassing moments. The supporting characters, Candace's roommate as well as her fellow teachers, were really interesting and I would have loved to get to know them better.


Little Miss Teacher had the potential to be really interesting to me- a first-year English teacher shares the ups and downs of being an educator while trying to figure out her personal love life- but it unfortunately fell flat for me. I felt that it could have had a tighter plot, I found that Candace often recounted information and scenes not pertinent to the overall story, and I thought that it could have used one more good edit to weed out the unnecessary scenes. Perhaps it didn't work for me personally because Candace is fresh out of college, and just starting to experience life as a grown-up for the first time, and I'm married with three small children, so I've been out of that stage of my life for a while.

Although it didn't work for me personally, this would be an interesting read for anyone interested in coming-of-age stories, or for anyone interested in reading about the experiences and adventures of a first-year teacher. Thank-you to Chick Lit Plus Blog Tours for arranging this tour.

Rating: 2.5 stars out of 5
Challenges: 2011 100+ Reading Challenge, 2011 E-Book Challenge