Instruct: Classify Amazon reviews into positive or negative sentiment
Query: Basis for a good story, but poorly written

Being a teacher, I was able to relate to the situations that Rue and the teachers dealt with day to day. This is what I enjoyed most about the book. I also enjoyed learning about the individual characters, but found myself not getting to know them very well. I don't think Ms. Gutcheon's use of the English language was very effective. The writing was choppy at times, and it contained some flowery words that were used incorrectly and ineffectively.