I found three great books at the library’s new nonfiction section.
“Can we talk about race?”, by Beverly Daniel Tatum (Beacon Press, 2007). Prof. Tatum is the President of Spelman College and author of the recent book, “Why are all the black kids sitting together in the cafeteria?” This book has a strong emphasis on education, and it is a great one to raise awareness on racial issues in general. I’ll try to post a bit of a review in a few days.
“The Last Word: The Best Commentary and Controversy in American Education”, Education Week, Jossey-Bass Press (2007). This is a set of essays from Education Week from a wide range of perspectives. Topics include The Art of Teaching, Equity and Social Justice, Testing, Curriculum, Technology, Democracy, Reform, Charter Schools, and Leadership. Writers include John Hope Franklin, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Diane Ravitch, Pedro Noguera, Dorothy Rich, Alfie Kohn, Bill Clinton, Theodore Sizer, Edwin Delattre, John Goodlad, Adam Urbanski, and others. How can you call yourself a school policy wonk if you didn’t read this book?
“In Code: A Young Woman’s Mathematical Journey”, by Sarah Flannery (Algonquin Books, 2002). Ok, this one isn’t new, but it was to me. It’s Sarah Flannery’s account of her passion for mathematics (especially cryptography) and winning Ireland’s Young Scientist of the Year award in 1999, a the age of 16. I wasn’t so fascinated by the award – someone had to win it, right? I was fascinated by her writing and enthusiasm for the math. She walks you through the world of prime numbers, Fermat’s Little Theorem, and much more. Although she had some help on the book from her dad, David Flannery from the Cork Institute of Technology, her voice and story really do rise to the top.
Happy reading!
– Jerry Eykholt (TJ let me log-in as him so I could post – let’s see if this worked!)
AMPS 