Miss - by Holly Rigby (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Miss is the story of one teacher's journey to transform the lives of her students in London's toughest schools. But when her passion leads her to break the rules and she risks losing her job, can she find the courage to keep fighting for the change she believes in and the students she loves?

When Holly, a dedicated young teacher and activist, signs up to work at The Academy, she is determined to make a difference to the lives of the inner city students she teaches. But frustrated by The Academy's strict rules and the way it stifles creativity, she starts an after school poetry collective for her students instead.

By empowering students to talk about their lives inside and outside of the school gates, Holly's students find their voices are being heard for the first time, and their performances inspire the rest of the school community too. Together, Holly and her teenage poets raise enough money to make a life-changing trip to America and compete in the largest poetry slam in the world.

But when Holly's passion leads her to make a careless mistake and break The Academy's rules, she faces losing the job she loves. At the centre of a community of students and their families who rally around her, she is forced to confront difficult questions about the broken school system she works in and the courage and resilience that will be necessary to change it.

Told with a rare honesty and passion, this memoir highlights the transformative power of education and art, and shows the importance of fighting for what you believe in, even when the odds are against you.

About the Author

Holly Rigby is a teacher, writer and activist. She taught English in inner-city London schools for almost a decade, whilst also writing for The Guardian, The Independent and the TES on education policy. Holly has also appeared as a political commentator on current affairs programming on the BBC, Sky News and Channel 4. She is a Lecturer at City University in Narrative Nonfiction Writing, and coordinates a number of community writing support groups. She holds a Masters in Comparative Literature from UCL, and a Masters in Education Policy from King's College London.