A review by southernhon
The Water Is Wide: A Memoir by Pat Conroy

5.0

I really enjoyed this book. Mr. Conroy, a young, idealistic, middle-class white teacher is offered a job to teach on mostly-African American Yamacraw Island, an island in South Carolina virtually cut off from society, both figuratively and literally. The year was 1969 and in the Southern United States, children of different races were not educated together. Educating the students who lived on the impoverished island of Yamacraw proved to be a challenge for the young teacher, as he fought for opportunities to instill a love of learning, the arts and sports in the students who could barely recite the alphabet at an age when most children were reading for pleasure. The huge societal differences proved to be more difficult to deal with, such as attempting to instill the moral concept that animals should not be mistreated or that learning to swim may prevent one from drowning.

Throughout the book, I found myself cheering for Mr.Conroy through his fights with the white administrators because it was plain to see that he was the only adult who showed any interest in these children.