"Wolff allows that several factors are involved in achieving greatness . . . These individuals range from having no formal education to attending the best schools in the land, from having a reverence for book learning to having a reverence for tinkering, from facing enormous challenges to having specialized interests. But what they all hold in common is that they managed to learn what they needed to know, often against tremendous odds. All were consistently true to themselves and to their deepest interests. And from that starting point they pursued the particular education that best suited their needs. This provocative book is not only an important addition to the history of education in America, but also a valuable contribution to the history and understanding of the country's ideas and culture."—Robert Saunderson, formerly at Berkeley Public Library, Berkeley, California, School Library Journal

“Deploying the fine fly-on-the-wall reporting skills that made her previous book, Not Much Just Chillin’, so uncannily evocative of the lives of middle school kids, she opens a window into a school that has become over-the-top test obsessed. She weaves in extensive discussions of federal education policy, pushing readers to the conclusion that the standards and accountability movement in general, and No Child Left Behind in particular, have gone badly awry. Perlstein paints a sobering portrait of Tyler Heights.”—Ben Wildavsky, The Miami Herald