The Fall of Rome

The Fall of Rome

Publisher

Scribner

Publication Year

2002

ISBN

9780743227216

Pages

224 pages

Genre

realism

Format

novel

Item Type

Fiction

Annotation

Latin instructor Jerome Washington is a man out of place. The lone African-American teacher at the Chelsea School, an elite all-boys boarding school in Connecticut, he has spent nearly two decades trying not to appear too "racial." So he is unnerved when Rashid Bryson, a promising black inner-city student who is new to the school, seeks Washington as a potential ally against Chelsea's citadel of white privilege. Preferring not to align himself with Bryson, Washington rejects the boy's friendship. Surprised and dismayed by Washington's response, Bryson turns instead to Jana Hansen, a middle-aged white divorcée who is also new to the school -- and who has her own reasons for becoming involved in the lives of both Bryson and Washington. Southgate makes her debut as a writer to watch in this compelling, provocative tale of how race and class ensnare Hansen, Washington, and Bryson as they journey toward an inevitable and ultimately tragic confrontation.

Grade Level

9-12

Diversity Topics

Family Relationships; Racial Diversity; Family member death; Interracial; Racial discrimination; death of a sibling; death of a brother; interracial relationship; prejudice

Main Character

boy and girl

Race/Ethnicities

Black / White

Family Formation

mother and father

Awards

Senior High Core Collection, Seventeenth Edition, 2007
Senior High School Library Catalog, Sixteenth Edition, 2003 Supplement, 2003
Alex Awards, 2003, Winner

Keywords

teacher; students; boarding school; financial difficulties; Latin; English teacher

Diversity Impact

direct

The Fall of Rome

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