"We see how an authentic teacher builds a caring, loving community of learners. Every page, every incident and observation Birdsey relates, is a gentle but firm repudiation of technocratic schooling . . . A Room for Learning shows exactly what 'something closer to the heart' looks like in education. Birdsey sees each of his students as whole persons, with their own challenges, inclinations, learning styles, quirks and insecurities. Most of them . . . are afraid of ridicule and rejection, suspicious of adults who judge them and peers who band together in cliques to exercise power. They are reluctant to open themselves to others, to test their own limits or pursue their deepest dreams. Birdsey tells how he created a safe, nurturing space in which these young teens could find and test their best, authentic selves . . . Ultimately, what really matters to Birdsey and his students is a community where everyone feels cared for, a community rooted in love. This . . . is what people are for."—Ron Miller, author of What Are Schools For?, Vermont Commons

"Birkerts' argument is persuasive, not only in its content but in its manner. His writing, which questions and muses at the leisurely pace of human speech, and which evinces both intelligence and feeling, reveals a complex individual personality, providing that vertical kind of connectedness that a thousand e-mail messages cannot."—San Francisco Chronicle

"Brad Cohen's story is a triumph of hope, determination, will, and relentless good humor. His approach to living with Tourette syndrome proves how much is possible when you expect the best of everyone, especially yourself.”—Peter J. Hollenbeck, Ph.D., Professor and Associate Head of Biological Sciences, Purdue University

"Crew proposes a new strategy. First, school systems need to be run like businesses, with explicit goals, implementation plans and budgets. The school must become the nucleus of the community, the center of a web connecting business, the arts, health services and other social institutions that can be drawn into the school's orbit. 'Connected Schools,' as Crew calls them, bring outside resources in and give students . . . a better sense of what is going on in the larger world . . . Crew has the grit and determination to make his plan work."—Publishers Weekly

"Carefully considered treatment of a troubling subject that will be particularly useful to educators and policymakers."—Kirkus Reviews

"While Cross-X  might have started out as a Rocky-like story of a team conquering great odds, it morphs into an important, thoughtful, and provocative look at race and class in America, celebrating the tiny—and triumphant—inroad that these kids made in their lives and in the world of debate."—Caroline Leavitt, The Boston Globe

“By the end of The Short Bus, Mooney will have you wondering just where the deficits lie: with kids so labeled or the labelers themselves . . . Although many of those recollections are sad and discomfiting, Mooney uses self-depreciating humor to diffuse anything that smacks of a pity party. Most important, he celebrates the immense diversity of human minds, reminding us that there is much to learned from those who make their home somewhere beyond ‘normal.’”—Carole Goldberg, Newsday

"By writing a thoughtful, attentive, stereotype-breaking book about her 10 years as a civilian teacher of literature at the Military Academy, she offers a significant perspective on the crucial social and political force of honor: a principle of behavior at the intersection of duty and imagination."—Robert Pinsky, The New York Times Book Review

"Shermer lays out the case for evolution cogently, if not in great detail, in Why Darwin Matters. He then does what many scientists are unwilling to do: He engages and answers the arguments of people who don't accept evolution. He does this with care and respect but without any false even-handedness . . . With zest but without gloating, Shermer takes on the arguments against evolution and mows them down."—David Brown, The Washington Post Book World

"A riveting, original examination of education inside and outside the classroom. What makes this work particularly captivating is that music historian Wolff doesn't focus primarily on the book learning acquired by a dozen Americans, from Benjamin Franklin to Elvis Presley. Rather, his interest is in how they learned—that is, the life experiences that helped transform them into the figures they became . . . Their stories attest that learning doesn't just happen in a schoolhouse, and life itself may well be the most effective teacher of the most important lessons. Well thought-out, well-argued and thoroughly engaging."—Kirkus, starred review