Learning in public Lessons for a racially divided America from my daughter's school

Journalist Martin (Do It Anyway) delivers a remarkably candid and perceptive account of her decision to enroll her daughter in a majority Black public school in Oakland, Calif. With a "1 out of 10 rating" on GreatSchools.org, Emerson Elementary was not on the radar of other white parents in Martin's racially diverse, gentrifying neighborhood. Yet, on Martin's school tours, which included a private school whose social justice mission was belied by its carefully selected student body, Emerson stood out for its authenticity. In brisk, immersive chapters, Martin chronicles how she and her husband came to make their decision and her daughter's first three years at Emerson, and delves into conflicting viewpoints over school integration and the best ways to measure school performance, tensions between Emerson's Black immigrant and Black American families, and the role of public education in fostering democracy, among other topics. Ultimately, her family came to embrace Emerson, "a school with strong muscles for crises" that showed its resilience by coping better with the Covid-19 pandemic than more highly rated public schools. Vividly documenting school fund-raisers, contentious school board meetings, school drop offs, and back-to-school nights, Martin challenges preconceptions about American education and race relations today. Readers will be inspired and enlightened. Agent: Kari Stuart, ICM Partners. (Aug.)

A feminist activist explores the benefits of White parents enrolling their children in predominantly Black public schools. Martin, the author of Do It Anyways: The New Generation of Activists and other socially conscious works of nonfiction, chronicles how she and her husband, both White, moved to Oakland, California, the "second most racially diverse city in the nation," and bought a house in a "cohousing community." Due to their relative privilege, she and her husband were able to choose where to send their young daughters to school--the operative word being choose, an option not available to many people. Regardless, Martin, an educated, progressive, well-meaning person, did her research. She learned that the closest public school was Emerson Elementary, rated "failing" and made up largely of Black students--while the other schools both public and private in the area were predominantly White, higher rated, and characterized by long waiting lists for admission. Essentially, the author is seeking answers to some fundamental questions regarding education--e.g., what are Whites parents afraid of, and what does that choice say about them? For Martin, it became a vital personal journey: "It was as if the universe dared me both to give up altogether on this quest for the White moral life, which felt like frivolous intellectual bullshit in the face of my kid's real needs, and simultaneously to double down." Studies show that integration helps all students, Black and White, notes the author--though she was also careful not to make an "experiment" of her daughters. Ultimately, she writes, "I suspect that White economically privileged and well-intentioned people have shirked our moral responsibility to the common good for decades under the cover of responsible parenting." Though the White guilt is sometimes overly pronounced, Martin offers a welcome contribution to an important conversation that should continue as we strive for sustained social change. An honest, searching, and progressive book that will spark debate. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.