‘TJ Crowley' Goes to College: Novel Picked for History Course at Wichita State University
Jay M. Price, Ph.D., Department Chair and Head of the Local and Community History Program at Wichita State University, selected The Real Education of TJ Crowley as supplemental reading for his History of Wichita course.
To explore the rich and complex history of Wichita, Kansas, students in Dr. Jay M. Price’s spring semester class at Wichita State University will be turning to an unexpected resource: a work of historical fiction.
Aimed at upper-level undergraduates and graduate students, Dr. Price’s three-credit History of Wichita course examines the city’s evolution from 1865 to the present day, with a focus on how local history shapes a citizen’s sense of place and identity.
As Chair of the Department of History and Head of the Local and Community History Program, Dr. Price has selected The Real Education of TJ Crowley as a supplemental reading for the course. Written by Wichita native Grant Overstake, the young adult novel is set in 1968–69 in the neighborhoods surrounding WSU’s main campus.
“In local history, it’s not uncommon for the most insightful works to be fiction,” Dr. Price explained. “Fiction can give you a sense of tone, connection, identity, and place—and this novel meets all of those criteria.”
Set during a time when Wichita was one of the most racially segregated and socially tense cities in the country, the novel follows the journey of TJ Crowley, a seventh-grade white boy raised in a home steeped in prejudice. As TJ forms unexpected friendships with Black classmates and neighbors, he begins to question what he’s been taught, embarking on a difficult but transformative path toward understanding and empathy.
Dr. Price himself introduced the new novel and the author at the book's publishing debut and author signing at Watermark Books and Cafe in late 2018, where the book became a local best-seller. The novel was selected this past summer for the citywide Candid Conversations Book Club by the Wichita Public Library, and last fall was named "Book of the Year for 2019" by the Kansas Authors Club.
According to Dr. Price, "Wichita was a significant place for a lot of different cultural movements, both the Civil Rights movement and the Vietnam conflict, both the Beat movement and the John Birch Society, and it comes together in a work like this.
"This book continues that conversation and expands on it in a couple of different ways," Price added. "This is one of those works that will resonate with Wichita. It builds on the shoulders of so much scholarship. It should be an entry into a discussion, a starting point to a discussion."
Of all the accolades to date, Overstake says, "To have my book selected for Dr. Price's history class is a great honor. He's invited me to talk to the students and I look forward to speaking to them about the research that went into writing the story."
Educator Guide for TJ Crowley
An expert team has developed a comprehensive Educator Guide for teaching The Real Education of TJ Crowley, designed to support English, Social Studies, and History teachers, college faculty, and book club facilitators. This free resource is available as a downloadable PDF and is appropriate for readers ages 12 through adult.
The guide offers a wealth of materials, including background information, guided questions, and curated links to help introduce the novel and its historical context. It is especially valuable for educators navigating complex classroom conversations around bias, prejudice, and the language of racism—core themes explored in the book.
In addition to literary analysis, the guide connects readers to broader topics such as the Civil Rights Movement, the role of law enforcement, the counterculture of the 1960s, and the Vietnam War—providing a rich, interdisciplinary framework for classroom engagement. Download the Educator Guide