Up the Down StaircaseBy Bel KaufmanThe main character of this book is Sylvia Barret, she recently graduated from college and works as a high school English teacher. Sylvia would like to work in a nice private school, like many of her friends. Instead, Sylvia takes a job with the school board, in a neat attempt to reach underprivileged inner-city children in public schools. Sylvia struggles with so many choices in this book. In the end, she makes the right ones. Another important character for this book is James J. Mchabe. He signs his name with Adm. Asst. (Administrative Assistant). Sylvia calls him "Admiral Ass" because he's always looking over his shoulder. It seems that Mr. Mcabe's only proposition in life is to disturb Sylvia and the other teachers. The admiral always seems to find something wrong in the mansion in which the professors teach. Bea Schachter is another teacher at Calvin Colidge High School. Bea has been a teacher at Calvin Coolidge for a very long time and she automatically makes Sylvia her friend. Bea shows Sylvia the ropes; what to do, what not to do, where to go, where not to go. That kind of thing. Bea is a good teacher and a good friend to Sylvia. One of Sylvia's students is Joe Ferone. Joe is a rebel and a thug. Joe almost never comes to class. Sylvia really wants to help Joe. Sylvia tries to schedule after-school sessions with Joe, but he never shows up. Towards the end of the story, I feel like Sylvia was starting to fall in love with him. This story takes place in a school in New York, Manhattan, in the sixties. The book covers the duration of a school semester from September to February. Sylvia Barret, a new teacher, begins her first day in room 304. She discovers that teaching is not everything she thought it would be. Her first friend is Bea, a veteran teacher who helps Sylvia by explaining how Calvin Coolidge High works. The writer takes all the craziness of a normal high school and embellishes it; for example, the school guidance counselor always uses big words and thinks that all students need help. And Mr. Mchabe the administrative assistant who is nosy about everything. The concierge who is never available.