"I won't learn from you" is Herb Kohl's now-classic essay about the phenomenon of "not-learning, " or refusing to learn, which takes place when a student's intelligence, dignity, or integrity is compromised by a teacher, an institution, or a larger social mindset. Available in book form for the first time, "I Won't Learn from You" serves here as a starting point for four new, groundbreaking essays by one of the country's leading thinkers on education. "The Tattooed Man: Confessions of a Hopemonger" is about the importance of teaching hope, and is Kohl's first autobiographical effort to discover in his own ghettoized childhood attitudes that let him recognize "not-learning" when he saw it among his students decades later. "Creative Maladjustment and the Struggle for Public Education" is inspired by Martin Luther King, Jr.'s call for creative maladjustment to an unjust society, and deals with the ways in which one can lead a positive life and learn new ways of maintaining opposition and resistance. "Excellence, Equality, and Equity" explores the relationship between these three crucial - and often confused - concepts. "Uncommon Differences" is about the way in which notions such as political correctness have been used to distract us from the central concerns of public education, including educating the poor, developing cultural diversity within the schools, and undoing the stigmatization of students who do not conform. It is about what public education in America can become. Written in Kohl's hallmark conversational style and employing the case examples that make his writing so compelling, these essays are at the forefront of current thinking on urban education.
<p>Following in the footsteps of the highly successful <i>Coming of Age in America</i>, this collection of twenty-four stories from around the world is a wonderful introduction to literature rarely available to American readers. Editors Faith Adiele and Mary Frosch magnificently chart the global quest for identity, and make a strong case for the personal and political importance of sharing our stories as they consider whether coming of age is a Western--or universal--concept.</p> <p>Featuring an array of voices from every continent, this anthology includes luminaries like Ben Okri and Chang-rae Lee, as well as recent bestsellers Marjane Satrapi and Alexandra Fuller, in addition to a variety of authors renowned abroad but less well known to North American audiences. The diversity extends to form, encompassing fiction and memoir, graphics, lyric prose, and tales in pidgin and patois.</p> <p>The world presented is complex and current, some inhabitants routinely switching country and language, others trapped by global events that shape us all. Detailed introductions provide historical and cultural context, particularly for Africa and the Muslim world.</p> <br />
During the Cold War, freedom of expression was vaunted as liberal democracy's most cherished possession--but such freedom was put in service of a hidden agenda. In <i>The Cultural Cold War</i>, Frances Stonor Saunders reveals the extraordinary efforts of a secret campaign in which some of the most vocal exponents of intellectual freedom in the West were working for or subsidized by the CIA--whether they knew it or not. <p></p>Called "the most comprehensive account yet of the [CIA's] activities between 1947 and 1967" by the <i>New York Times</i>, the book presents shocking evidence of the CIA's undercover program of cultural interventions in Western Europe and at home, drawing together declassified documents and exclusive interviews to expose the CIA's astonishing campaign to deploy the likes of Hannah Arendt, Isaiah Berlin, Leonard Bernstein, Robert Lowell, George Orwell, and Jackson Pollock as weapons in the Cold War. Translated into ten languages, this classic work--now with a new preface by the author--is "a real contribution to popular understanding of the postwar period" ( <i>The Wall Street Journal</i>), and its story of covert cultural efforts to win hearts and minds continues to be relevant today.
Hailed by renowned educator Deborah Meier as "a rare and special pleasure to read," <i>Kindergarten</i> explores a year in the life of a kindergarten classroom through the eyes of the gifted veteran teacher and author Julie Diamond. In this lyrical, beautifully written first-person account, Diamond explains the logic behind the routines and rituals children need to thrive. As she guides us through all aspects of classroom life--the organization, curriculum, and relationships that create a unique class environment--we begin to understand what kindergarten can and should be: a culture that builds children's desire to understand the world and lays the foundation for lifelong learning. <p></p> <i>Kindergarten</i> makes a compelling case for an expansive definition of teaching and learning, one that supports academic achievement without sacrificing students' curiosity, creativity, or development of social values. Diamond's celebration of the possibilities of classroom life is a welcome antidote to today's test-driven climate. Written for parents and teachers alike, <i>Kindergarten</i> offers a rare glimpse into what's really going on behind the apparent chaos of a busy kindergarten classroom, sharing much-needed insights into how our children can have the best possible early school experiences. <br />
Imagine if you felt out of step with every other member of the parent association at your kid's school, your quilting circle, or even your workout group. What if casual conversations revolved around Fox News and the decline of American values? How would you feel if you were afraid to put a political bumper sticker on your car or had to think twice about what liberal posts you liked on Facebook? These are just some of the experiences shared by liberals across twenty states and five time zones who tell their stories with honesty, warmth, and humor. <p></p>Most of us have to "talk across the aisle" once or twice a year--when we're seated next to our conservative out-of-town uncle at Thanksgiving, say. But millions of self- identified liberals live in cities and towns--particularly away from the East and West Coasts--where they are regularly outnumbered and outvoted by conservatives. <p></p>In this uplifting and completely original book, Justin Krebs, the founder of the national Living Liberally network, speaks with and tells the stories of atheists, vegetarians, environmentalists, pacifists, and old-fashioned liberals--a term he is intent on rehabilitating--from Texas to Idaho, South Carolina to Alaska. Krebs weaves these stories together to create a provocative and rollicking taxonomy of strategies for living in a diverse society, with lessons for every participant in our great democratic experiment. <br />
Publishers Weekly,Award-winning journalist Bernstein (All Alone in the World) turns her attention to the U.S. juvenile justice system in which more than 66,000 youths are confined. Many young people in large detention centers live under "constant surveillance," fearful of beatings, rape, solitary confinement, or being denied showers, companionship, and adequate food. Such is the grim reality of a system that removes two elements central to adolescent development-connection and autonomy-and, as Bernstein documents, drives low-level delinquents deeper into criminality. With considerable empathy, Bernstein introduces adolescents in and out of detention centers, capturing their struggles to overcome traumatic histories. She covers the rise of the "super-predator myth" in the late 1980s/early 1990s that led to increased rates of juvenile incarceration and more stringent laws ("three strikes"), as well as the wave of reform that resulted in a 39% drop in incarceration in the past decade. She interviews reform-minded administrators like Tom Decker, director of Missouri's juvenile justice system, a model for other states because of its acclaimed network of small, non-institutional placements and low rates of recidivism. Visiting "therapeutic" prisons in Minnesota, California, and New York, she concludes that no matter how much effort goes into creating "a kinder, gentler prison," these institutions remain embedded in a larger culture that seems impervious to reform. Passionate, thoughtful, and well-researched, this is a resounding call to action. Agent: Kathleen Anderson, Anderson Literary Management. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Publishers Weekly,Daydreaming about the perfect, long-legged blonde may consume more than a little of a man's time; however, trying to track down that blonde, one who has eluded each of her pursuer's steps, may become taxing, both mentally and financially. After serving a short prison sentence in the questionable death of her agent and lover, Gloria Stella, the knock-out blonde and former pop entertainer, chooses to live an anonymous lifefree of reminders of the tragedy, and free of public appearances. Paul Salvador, impresario and producer of TV programs, hires private detectives to search for Gloria, with the hope of re-introducing her to the public as the perfect blonde. The first PI meets his death after unknowingly talking with Gloriaa death by a fall that is ironically similar to her agent's. Finally, when private investigator Personnettaz is put on the case, the noir-style detective follows the blonde and her alter ego, Beliarda tiny brown-haired man who is always impeccably dressed and is always present during Gloria's violent outragesthroughout France, Australia and India. Echenoz (Double Jeopardy) picks out the absurd nuances of pop culture and twists them into a contemporary detective book. Cleverly written and quickly paced, Big Blondes is a hilarious read. Polizzotti's effective translation captures Echenoz's sense of the farcical. Is the incessant need to find that perfect blonde worth all the frustration? By the book's end, only the reader can judge. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved,Publishers Weekly,Publishers Weekly,Daydreaming about the perfect, long-legged blonde may consume more than a little of a man's time; however, trying to track down that blonde, one who has eluded each of her pursuer's steps, may become taxing, both mentally and financially. After serving a short prison sentence in the questionable death of her agent and lover, Gloria Stella, the knock-out blonde and former pop entertainer, chooses to live an anonymous lifefree of reminders of the tragedy, and free of public appearances. Paul Salvador, impresario and producer of TV programs, hires private detectives to search for Gloria, with the hope of re-introducing her to the public as the perfect blonde. The first PI meets his death after unknowingly talking with Gloriaa death by a fall that is ironically similar to her agent's. Finally, when private investigator Personnettaz is put on the case, the noir-style detective follows the blonde and her alter ego, Beliarda tiny brown-haired man who is always impeccably dressed and is always present during Gloria's violent outragesthroughout France, Australia and India. Echenoz (Double Jeopardy) picks out the absurd nuances of pop culture and twists them into a contemporary detective book. Cleverly written and quickly paced, Big Blondes is a hilarious read. Polizzotti's effective translation captures Echenoz's sense of the farcical. Is the incessant need to find that perfect blonde worth all the frustration? By the book's end, only the reader can judge. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Publishers Weekly,In her first book, McDonald-Gibson, a journalist experienced in covering the European Union, examines the last five years of the refugee crisis in the Mediterranean. Her account is told, in large part, through the voices of refugees such as Majid, a young Nigerian forced to flee two different homes, and Sina, an Eritrean woman who, with her husband, did not think of leaving her home until staying became impossible. The author's note at the end of the book clarifies some of her choices-including the use of pseudonyms when requested-but might have been better placed at the beginning. McDonald-Gibson is shrewd in her presentation of the EU's failures, though she's often less pointed when discussing northern European countries. The book shines as a portrait of the hopes and frustrations of the families and individuals who risk so much for safer lives and the generosities and cruelties, both passive and active, that they encounter in their travels. This book will be illuminating for every reader who wants to better understand the human side of a complex, wrenching issue. Agent: Charlie Viney, Viney Agency (U.K.). (Sept.) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Publishers Weekly,In modern-day India, the Joshi family is split along generational lines: parents Aai and Baba value traditions and the home, while two of their children, Tanay and Anuja, seek more from their lives than marriage. Into this volatile mix comes a mysterious, alluring tenant who takes over the upstairs room. Both Tanay and Anuja fall in love with the man, who remains nameless throughout the novel. A soft-spoken artist, he has forsaken his last name and refuses to elaborate on his troubled past. The story is narrated first by Tanay and then by his sister, Anuja, as they recount the events leading up to Anuja's running away with the man and her eventual return. In these combative siblings, Kundalkar has created two powerful, singular voices. Tanay is intimate and sensual, and his narrative lingers over precise moments, turning them over incessantly as he searches for meaning. Anuja's introspection reflects her more focused personality and reveals her inner nature: rebellious, impulsive, and self-centered. As she gets over her heartache, Anuja wonders why her brother is not happier to see her return. Both siblings, in their own ways, try to reconcile the man they loved with his sudden desertion, and their own willingness to unquestioningly follow him. In his debut novel, Kundalkar combines two distinct and complementary voices to deliver a complex and intricate story about love, family, and making one's own path. (Aug.) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Publishers Weekly,In the first comprehensive report of the Fukushima Daiichi catastrophe, Lochbaum, Lyman, and other members of the Union of the Concerned Scientists, along with journalist Stranahan, give a blow-by-blow account of the events on March 11, 2011, when extreme nature collided with aging, outmoded nuclear reactors on Japan's northern coast. Stranahan, the former lead reporter of the Philadelphia Inquirer's Pulitzer Prize-winning team coverage of the Three Mile Island accident, adds spark to a narrative framed by the scientists' disturbing facts about the magnitude 9.0 earthquake, one of the five strongest ever recorded, that rattled Japan with a three-minute tremor, followed by a massive tsunami whose waves flooded the power plant. Although the Japanese government and plant officials first assured the public that it was safe, in the subsequent days the disaster terrified citizens as the plant's fail-safes were overwhelmed-a loss of all external power, cooling systems compromised, overheated fuel rods exposed to fire and explosions. While some serious issues and recommendations of tighter regulations and updating oversight enhance this eye-opening expose, all research points to the scary fact that America can suffer a Fukushima-type event if critical steps are not taken. 39 images. (Feb.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Publishers Weekly,Informed by the various perspectives provided by her multiple roles (an informed journalist who attended public schools and whose children attended public schools), Miner traces the predominantly downward path of a city that was the setting for Happy Days and Laverne and Shirley. How, she asks, did Milwaukee become a national symbol of joblessness, decline, and racial disparity? Attentive to the broader racial issues in housing and employment, Miner's primary focus is upon the tribulations of public education; she delineates the city's trajectory from segregated but prosperous city in the 1950s and 1960s, through the desegregation efforts and backlash of the 1970s and 1980s, and into a resegregation coupled with inner-city abandonment during the 1990s and 2000s. Enriched and enlivened by her deep relationship with the city, this is very much a book about Milwaukee, but the journalist in Miner locates her historical account within the wider context of national events. While political controversies are presented in detail that borders on the parochial, the cumulative impact confirms Miner's assertion that "[a]ll politics is local, but with national repercussions." Intensively, extensively, and specifically about the politics of public education in one American city, the issues Miner raises are of great importance to all those concerned with how our society educates its children. (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
The fact that our global economy is broken may be widely accepted, but what precisely needs to be fixed has become the subject of enormous controversy. In 2008, the president of the United Nations General Assembly convened an international panel, chaired by Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz and including twenty leading international experts on the international monetary system, to address this crucial issue. <p></p> <i>The Stiglitz Report</i>, released by the committee in late 2009, sees the recent financial crisis as the latest and most damaging of several concurrent crises--of food, water, energy, and sustainability--that are tightly interrelated. The analysis and recommendations in the report cover the gamut from short-term mitigation to deep structural changes, from crisis response to reform of the global, economic, and financial architecture. <p></p>The report establishes a bold agenda for policy change, that is sure to be the gold standard for understanding and contending with the international economy for many years to come. <i>The Stiglitz Report</i> is essential reading for anyone concerned about a secure and prosperous world.