Publisher's Synopsis
As this book cogently states this is an eclectic examination of current social problems using the lenses of literature, whether fiction or non-fiction, to open doors to understanding the potential for new and creative interventions that have the potential for transformative change. The beginning quote from Toni Morrison bringing light to those who don't always find themselves true ownership to the land to which they are rooted in is a climate system for readers of this book. James Agee and Walker Evans provide a clear and yet complex vision of how they came to study three families in Hale County, Alabama. Their work gives excellent details on how to enter cultures different from their own. Hillbilly Elegy, Appalachian Reckoning and Nickel Boys all written in the past three years yield description and rhetoric that inform social scientists of the human condition. Appalachian Reckoning disputes much of what J.D. Vance wrote. Furious Hours is an excellent source for data collection and analysis. Literature is not new to social commentary but these are contemporary works that can help scholar activists and public researchers who are doing research and publishing for the public. This is a major goal of this book. Educational issues and their intersection with crime and mental issues are key topics of this cogent book. Opportunity gaps, school to prison pipeline, anxiety and many more issues are fodder for scholar activists that are adumbrated in this forceful book. The community school is proffered as a hub of services for those thorny issues. The school is the place to offer services because so many are fractured in this country today and very likely to become more so. Systemic thinking is a key part of the interventions applied currently. A plus on this topic is that systems thinking is presented in a demystifying way. Vignettes are a strength of this book in that they are what happened and they give readers insight into what worked and what didn't. If you are a bridge player, one peak is worth two finesses. The people in these vignettes are as alive today as they were when these events took place.
