People of a certain age will remember 
when Up the Down Staircase, a novel about teaching in a large public high school came out in 1965. It became a bestseller and was subsequently made into a very popular movie. Bel Kaufman, the author of this classic, has just turned 100 and is still as feisty and good-humored as she was when she taught in New York City schools, as a recent New York Times article attests.
Mary B., Reader’s Services