Ordinary Resurrections

by Jonathan Kozol

Book Overview

Jonathan Kozol's books have become touchstones of the American conscience. In Ordinary Resurrections, he spends four years in the South Bronx with children who have become his friends at a badly... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060956453
• ISBN13: 9780060956455
• Release Date: January 2001
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Length: 400 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.3" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

Touching Portraits of Resilience

In Ordinary Resurrections, Jonathan Kozol deviates from his usual "gloves off" attack of the issues facing minority children. Instead of building the case against the inequitable system with facts and figures, as he has in previous work, he has chosen the subtle but effective approach of a storyteller. He paints a very descriptive portrait of the victims of continued segregation and racism that may inspire those in positions of influence to make more compassionate decisions regarding the lives of the children they serve.Things that scream out to me from Kozol's book(s):1) Incarceration vs. Education (do the math!)The incarceration industry is thriving on blind public support. If taxpayers knew they were paying on the average ten to twenty times more to incarcerate supposed perpetrators of victimless crimes than it would cost to educate them, I'd bet they might even overlook their racist fears. The corporate/federal mentality that chooses to decide early on what these children will bring to the economy seems to prefer them as a product in this system versus potential contributors to something greater.2) Resilience (despite our conditional "help")In their innocent naiveté the children neglected by the system remain courageous, hopeful, and resilient. This resilience may diminish as they weather the inequities of the system that oppresses them, but it is often the attribute that enables them to succeed regardless of our preaching and teaching. Just imagine what heights they might reach if they continued to be nurtured as they are by the caring individuals in their lives now.3) Compassion (essential)As a beneficiary of white male privilege his reflections from the other side of the gap are poignant and insightful lessons for those of us too far removed from the reality that exists in many of our cities. Even after this racial inequity is acknowledged it is difficult for most of us to express empathy in ways that ring genuine. Kozol does! He is trusted and welcomed by the culture and community he strives to serve. His stories reflect a model for learning and practicing compassion which, in my opinion, may be the single most important factor in saving ourselves from extinction. Kozol repeatedly demonstrates the importanceof compassion in his work. Listen to him!4) Racism, segregation, inequality (market view politics) Racism is institutionalized in the United States despite the hope segregation was ending that the civil rights movements of the sixties inspired. "Kids notice that no politicians talk about this. They hear the politicians saying, "We're gonna have tougher standards in your separate-but-not-equal schools. We're gonna raise the bar of academic discipline in your separate-but-not-equal schools." But nobody says we're going to make them less separate and more equal. Nobody says that." - Kozol interview in Education World5) Toxic environments (no one to litigate)AIDS, asthma, drugs, violence, toxic pollution, poverty, malnutrition, lack of me

Anything but Ordinary

This powerful work is at once inspiring, frustrating and captivating. Kozol draws the reader into a world called Mott Haven that is filled with substance, love, service and hope. He poignantly describes the lives of children while blasting the manner in which we have chosen to deal with our most needy sectors of society. Kozol's gifted and powerful storytelling reminds us of several truths: 1. Segregation is potentially a bigger problem today than ever. White flight, private schools, school choice, home-schooling, virtual schools and lack of equitable access to technology are widening the gap. 2. Inequities in education must be addressed with the underlying belief that every child has the potential to achieve his/her dreams. Society must be responsible and held accountable for creating conditions ensuring that this occurs.3. Teachers and students must all be able to work and learn in optimum conditions that safeguard and ensure dignity. 4. Although children appear to be resilient, we must protect their innocence, ensure they have the chance to dream and be inspired by their eternal optimism and hope. The real heroes of today are those who spend time with our children, listening to and nurturing their dreams.5. We spend too much on our prison system and must figure out a way to divert that funding to education and healthcare so we can be proactive rather than reactive. Kozol manages to convey the realities of inner city education by illuminating the complexities behind the daily challenges facing teachers and parents. His manner of connecting the problems to the institutions and practices that society has created to deal with those who do not "fit the system" provides a wake-up call to all of us who are working to make a difference in the lives of children. Kozol shows us that the system we have created is nurturing itself instead of helping people to break out of the vicious cycle characterized by lack of quality education, health care, meaningful work opportunities and dignity. We can no longer ignore the problems in the inner cities of America, not just because it makes economic sense but because it makes human sense to individually develop our most precious resources - our children. Community leaders, parents, educators, and corporate leaders should put this compelling book on the top of their "must read" list.

Ordinary Resurrections: Extraordinary Victories

Jonathan Kozol, author of Ordinary Resurrections, was a teacher in the 1960's until, legend has it, he was fired for reading a Langston Hughes poem to his students in inner-city Boston. Since his forced departure from the classroom, Kozol has been a student of public education, focusing on the inequities of quality of education between the haves and the have-nots. His books include: Death at an Early Age; The Night is Dark and I am far From Home; Rachel and her Children; Savage Inequalities; and Amazing Graces.Kozol describes his current work: "This is a book about a group of children whom I've come to know during their early years of life, not in the infant years but in the ones just after, when they start to go to school and poke around into the world and figure out what possibilities for hope and happiness it holds. Most of these children live within a section of the South Bronx called Mott Haven which, for much of the past decade, was the nation's epicenter for the plague of pediatric and maternal AIDS and remains one of the centers of an epidemic of adult and pediatric asthma that has swept across the inner-city populations of our nation in these years." At the end of the book's introduction, Kozol says: "I'm grateful to the priest and congregation of St. Ann's (Church - of Morrisania - Episcopalian) for giving me the privilege to share the lives of children here...But most of all I'm grateful to the children, who have been so kind and generous to me, as they have been to many people who do nothing to deserve their loyalty and love, which aren't for sale and never can be earned, and who, with bashful voices, tiny fingers, sometimes unintended humor, and wise hearts, illuminate the lives of everyone who know them."Kozol followed the children of P.(ublic) S.(chool) 30 and the eighty children who participate St. Ann's after school program for two years. Their stories and the stories of their parents, teachers and caretakers are anything but ordinary. These children will crawl right into your heart and take up residence. It's been a long time since a book has chronicled so many real-life miracles performed on a daily basis by ordinary people who happen to posses extraordinary compassion, kindness and caring. I challenge anyone who reads Ordinary Resurrections to remain unmoved by Pineapple's brashness, Elio's false bravado, Ariel's insight, Mother Martha (St. Ann's priest) and her dog, or Katrice's adroitness in overseeing the church's kitchen. Some of the stories are uplifting; some will break your heart. Although the book drags a bit in the middle when Kozol attempts to explain educational philosophies in laymen's terms, he never leaves the children long enough to make the intellectual content too boring. If there is justice for Kozol and the children of Mott Haven, this should garner a lot of attention and win awards. Words like Pulitzer, Nobel, and National Book Award will fit nicely behind the title. Ord

Wonderful book, inspiring and very sad at the same time

I think it's very telling that Jonathan Kovol is friends withFred Rogers (one of my heroes) and talks about that in this book, ashis writing reminds me of how Mister Rogers talks---his extremely strong feelings of love and caring and understanding of the children he is friends with (for that is what he is, friends, not an observer) comes through in every sentence. It's inspiring to read about the lives these children are living---how they manage to have a happy childhood and remain innocent and caring in such a tough environment, but you know the road ahead for them is not going to be an easy one. If you don't feel outraged after reading this book about the state of the public schools in big cities, you haven't read too carefully. And the fault is not where so many like to put it--with the teachers, with the students, with the parents, the fault is with a society where people are getting richer and richer but there is still not enough money to have reasonable class sizes in cities, to restore music and arts and doctors in the schools taken away 20 years ago, and to have a graduation rate not as shameful as the one where most of these kids will go to high school. This book really moved me and I am going to work harder to improve my childrens' urban schools.

Honest and Touching

There are traps all to easy to fall into when writing a book recounting one's interactions with children. The children can be simplified into charicatures, they can be made more complex and no longer childlike, and they can be modified to fit the author's argument. Mr. Kozol draws upon 40 years of working with children to avoid these pitfalls in telling the inspiring and haunting stories of these wonderful children. Mr. Kozol writes with a beautiful simplicity that is both stirring and honest. This is a fabulous book.