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KENNETH CHANKO taught for ten years in Manhattan and South Bronx public schools. “Exit Tickets,” inspired by his career-changing work as a teacher, is his debut novel. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, New York Magazine, and Entertainment Weekly. Chanko, who also ran after-school chess clubs, remains in touch with several of his former South Bronx students. He is currently working on a sequel to “Exit Tickets.” For more information, visit his website: www.kennethchanko.com.
Reviewed by Jamie Michele for Readers' Favorite
Exit Tickets by Kenneth Chanko follows Martin Jordanowski, a new writing teacher at a middle school on the Upper East Side, as his wish to reach students centers on Kandra McKissick, an eighth grader who turns his classroom into a refuge. Her visits grow longer. Private talks and shared writing reshape how she sees him and how he sees his job. Shay, her classmate and boyfriend, tracks the attention she receives and acts out in the hallways and in the gym. Adults in the building see fragments of this pattern, including a homeroom teacher who studies attendance and reports, a paraprofessional who mentors students during lunch, and a counselor who grows close to Martin. A complaint joins a student essay and a journal and brings scrutiny and an inquiry that puts jobs at risk and strains families.
Exit Tickets by Kenneth Chanko offers an incisive look at a public school community through sharply drawn scenes and alternating points of view. The novel tracks a teacher’s demanding year and the students and colleagues who shape it, presenting charged encounters in classrooms, hallways, and homes with consistent observation and an eye for human motives. Chanko builds interest through subtle shifts in power, from uneasy classroom moments to private conversations that test professional boundaries. Despite heavy circumstances, the story moves forward, driven by character choices and the uncertainty of their next steps. Martin’s missteps, Kandra’s fierce attachment, and the faculty’s pressures form a portrait of institutional life that comes across as very realistic. Readers seeking a depiction of educators and adolescents negotiating life's realities will find this book stays with them long after the term ends.
