Only the Faces Change (A High School Odyssey)

Book excerpt: Only the Faces Change is a humorous, touching story of teachers, both good and bad, of students searching for truth in education and in their personal lives, and of failed bureaucratic attempts to improve the system. Herb Williams encourages students to speak for themselves through discussions and notes (Dear Herbies) from a coffee can; satirizes directives from principals, counselors, attendance supervisors, and parents; solicits contributions from colleagues (From the Campus Inn); incorporates the latest rumors from one who knows them all (The Ear With an Attitude); and integrates satirical columns from his newspaper days (Fiction and Fact from the Almanac). For over fifteen years, Herb Williams wrote a humor column, titled "Life and Times," published in three different newspapers in Norwalk, Cerritos, and Redlands, California. This is his third book in addition to his travel memoir, North to Alaska with a No-Account Cat and his "how to" booklet, Easy Writing Across the Curriculum or Anywhere Else.