Recommended Reads from Megan Chrusciel, Adult Services Librarian
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The Bridge to Brilliance: How One Principal in a Tough Community Is Inspiring the World
By Nadia Lopez
In the inspiring story of a school principal in one of Brooklyn’s worst neighborhoods, Nadia Lopez shows that with perseverance and the right people, you can overcome seemingly insurmountable odds.
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The End of the Rainbow: How Educating for Happiness (Not Money) Would Transform Our Schools
By Susan Engel
How would our school system and our lives be different if the goal of education was happiness, rather than economic success? The author argues this alternative could create a happier, more whole society.
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Why Knowledge Matters: Rescuing Our Children from Failed Educational Theories
By E.D. Hirsch, Jr.
Tackling everything from over-testing to the achievement gap, the author vies for educational practices based on current cognitive science and developmental psychology.
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Helping Children Succeed: What Works and Why
By Paul Tough
Adversity and poverty affect a child’s ability to thrive in school. Parents and teachers can help foster qualities such as grit and self-control in the face of such obstacles.
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The End of College: Creating the Future of Learning and the University of Everywhere
By Kevin Carey
Examine how the high cost of college and the increasing accessibility of information and technology will transform higher education.
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I Wish My Teacher Knew: How One Question Can Change Everything for Our Kids
By Kyle Schwartz
After an eye-opening experience in her classroom, the author began to advocate for teachers to learn more about the home lives and struggles of their students. Her initiative has become a global trend.
Recommended Reads from Susan Carr, Youth Services Librarian
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Disney/Hyperion
Steamboat School: Inspired by a True Story
By Deborah Hopkinson (picture book)
Did you know it was against the law to educate African-Americans in St. Louis in 1847? When James’ school is shut down, his teacher finds an ingenious way to educate his students without breaking the law.
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Pete the Cat and the Surprise Teacher
By James Dean (reader)
Pete’s mom is taking over as substitute at his school in this early reader addition to the popular Pete the Cat series.
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Dear Ellen Bee: A Civil War Scrapbook of Two Union Spies
By Mary Lyons (teen)
If Miss Bet hadn’t insisted on sending a young freed slave, Liza Bowser, to school, there wouldn’t have been a spy named Ellen Bee. This book is based on the true story of two spies – one African-American, one white – who worked together under a shared secret identity to undermine the Confederacy.
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Sylvia and Aki
By Winifred Conkling (juvenile fiction)
In 1940s California, the lives of two girls intersect when Sylvia is not allowed to attend a neighborhood school because of her Mexican heritage and Aki is not allowed to live in her own house because of her Japanese heritage.
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The First Step: How One Girl Put Segregation on Trial
By Susan E. Goodman (juvenile biography)
In 1847, Sarah Roberts took the first step toward the journey of a lifetime after she was removed from her neighborhood school due to her skin color. With help from her parents, “Roberts v. City of Boston” became the first case to challenge segregated schools.
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I Will Always Write Back: How One Letter Changed Two Lives
By Caitlin Alifirenka and Martin Ganda (juvenile nonfiction)
Until a pen pal assignment, 12-year-old Caitlin had never heard of Zimbabwe. In Zimbabwe, Martin never expected to receive a letter from a white girl in Pennsylvania. Their long-distance friendship changed both of their lives.