Scan barcode
jml1227's review against another edition
4.0
great and very interesting read. some parts are pretty shocking but raises a lot of questions about our school system. wonder what kozol thinks about the progress we’ve made since the 1960s
kmcclellan220's review against another edition
5.0
Written during the Civil Rights Movement era, "Death at an Early Age" is the account of Jonothan Kozol who taught at a school in Roxbury, MA. As desegregation became the norm, so too did de facto segregation and inequality. Kozol respectfully and thoughtfully describes the situation on the ground as he saw and experienced it: stories of broken windows falling on children, four classes being taught in the basement simultaneously, and regular whippings of black students.
Truthfully, I am both disappointed and thankful that it has taken me this long to finish "Death at an Early Age." Disappointed because this book has been one of the most devastatingly beautiful and reaffirming books I've read in years and I wish I had read it sooner. Kozol is an expert in the field of education reform and as such, I found this book informative, thought-provoking, and sad. I am thankful I waited until now to read it, however, because I fear that had I read it any sooner I would not have appreciated it in the same way. Not since "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder have I felt so holistically effected by a book. It made me really, really sad; it made me mad; it made me disappointed in the progress (or lack there of); most importantly, it inspired me to continue working towards equity and equality in education.
I greatly appreciate the manner in which Kozol allows the reader to work through his personal struggles and moral dilemmas right along side him. He is a real human being having a real human experience which shines through brightly in this book in a thoughtful, honest way.
Truthfully, I am both disappointed and thankful that it has taken me this long to finish "Death at an Early Age." Disappointed because this book has been one of the most devastatingly beautiful and reaffirming books I've read in years and I wish I had read it sooner. Kozol is an expert in the field of education reform and as such, I found this book informative, thought-provoking, and sad. I am thankful I waited until now to read it, however, because I fear that had I read it any sooner I would not have appreciated it in the same way. Not since "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder have I felt so holistically effected by a book. It made me really, really sad; it made me mad; it made me disappointed in the progress (or lack there of); most importantly, it inspired me to continue working towards equity and equality in education.
I greatly appreciate the manner in which Kozol allows the reader to work through his personal struggles and moral dilemmas right along side him. He is a real human being having a real human experience which shines through brightly in this book in a thoughtful, honest way.
dashtaisen's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.5
This book makes a couple of things really clear:
• people knew, even at the time, how bad racism was in Boston schools and in the US in general
• how toxic and dangerous superficially-“nice” racists can be
• people knew, even at the time, how bad racism was in Boston schools and in the US in general
• how toxic and dangerous superficially-“nice” racists can be
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Racial slurs, and Racism
bobbo49's review against another edition
4.0
Recommended to me many years ago, this 1967 expose of Boston's public schools is still highly relevant today. Although school integration has become legally acknowledged throughout the country in the years since Kozol wrote this personal memoir, de facto segregation - by ethnicity and, even more prevalent, by economic and social circumstances - remains. The inequality of educational opportunities upon which Kozol shone so bright a light remains the scourge of American society.
halkid2's review against another edition
5.0
It's hard to convey how powerful this book is.
The author, Jonathan Kozol, taught for a short time as a white teacher in a predominantly black Boston city school in the 1960s. He was ultimately fired for introducing his fourth grade students to a Langston Hughes poem called "Ballad of the Landlord" which he read in an attempt to spark his class interest in something, anything "
Kozol's first person narrative about his experience reads like Dickensian novel. The illegal but frequent beatings children received from teachers in the hidden bowels of the decaying school building. The complete lack of understanding or interest in the difficult home lives of many of these children. The psychological smashing of any spark of creativity or independence displayed by a child. And the repeated blaming of students for the shortcoming of their teachers. And these are just of the insidious ways blatant prejudice was administered on a daily basis in the city's public schools.
Living in the Boston area, I picked the book up after hearing an interview with the author on the 50th anniversary of the book's publication. I thought it would be an interesting look at the history of the Boston Schools. But it was MUCH more than I bargained for. It is a scathing indictment of an institution with deeply entrenched bigotry and cruelty and completely explains why court-ordered bussing was the only way to achieve educational parity. Beyond that it's a shameful portrait of our country during the early years of the civil rights movement. I think it should be mandatory reading in all US history classes in this country.
The author, Jonathan Kozol, taught for a short time as a white teacher in a predominantly black Boston city school in the 1960s. He was ultimately fired for introducing his fourth grade students to a Langston Hughes poem called "Ballad of the Landlord" which he read in an attempt to spark his class interest in something, anything "
Kozol's first person narrative about his experience reads like Dickensian novel. The illegal but frequent beatings children received from teachers in the hidden bowels of the decaying school building. The complete lack of understanding or interest in the difficult home lives of many of these children. The psychological smashing of any spark of creativity or independence displayed by a child. And the repeated blaming of students for the shortcoming of their teachers. And these are just of the insidious ways blatant prejudice was administered on a daily basis in the city's public schools.
Living in the Boston area, I picked the book up after hearing an interview with the author on the 50th anniversary of the book's publication. I thought it would be an interesting look at the history of the Boston Schools. But it was MUCH more than I bargained for. It is a scathing indictment of an institution with deeply entrenched bigotry and cruelty and completely explains why court-ordered bussing was the only way to achieve educational parity. Beyond that it's a shameful portrait of our country during the early years of the civil rights movement. I think it should be mandatory reading in all US history classes in this country.
hopecp's review against another edition
5.0
Kozol seems way ahead of his time with this book. He is a white man, but I was impressed. Are we sure he isn’t a time traveler who came from the future to the 1960’s?
drewjameson's review against another edition
5.0
This is an unimaginably bleak depiction of inner city public schools in Boston in the mid 60's. The most frightening thing to me is the way his depictions of his colleague's superficially progressive, open-minded self-presentations mask overt but un-accknowledged bigotry feels really familiar living in Boston today.
His 1985 post-script reveals a still bleak portrait of Boston public schools. In the 60's, schools were de facto segregated by income; if you lived in a poor black neighborhood, you were stuck in an unbelievably gruesome school. In the 80's, poor blacks, Hispanics and whites became illiterate together, in Kozol's words.
His 1985 post-script reveals a still bleak portrait of Boston public schools. In the 60's, schools were de facto segregated by income; if you lived in a poor black neighborhood, you were stuck in an unbelievably gruesome school. In the 80's, poor blacks, Hispanics and whites became illiterate together, in Kozol's words.
2000ace's review against another edition
5.0
I read this book when it first came out. I was appalled by the conditions he described in the Boston public school in which he taught, but not surprised, The poor children have always been denied decent funding for education. In a state of the State address to the Georgia legislature, then-governor Roy Barnes described the Hope Scholarship program as, "my anti-crime bill." Too bad more politicians don't speak out on the close knit connections between poverty, second-class education, and crime. Kozol speaks to these issues loudly and clearly.
Until the economically disadvantaged minority children in this country receive the same benefits from the education tax dollar as the upper and upper-middle class children, this book will remain a relevant, heart-breaking volume of truth.
Until the economically disadvantaged minority children in this country receive the same benefits from the education tax dollar as the upper and upper-middle class children, this book will remain a relevant, heart-breaking volume of truth.
kuhrin's review against another edition
4.0
What Kozol does best, here and in subsequent books on education, is feel out solutions to the problems he brings to light. It's devastating that our education system is still under fire, with students still struggling for equal access to quality education.