An exposé of the American public education system's indifference toward marginalized children and the 'slow violence' that fashions schools into hostile work and learning environments.
[An] extensive, immersive ethnographic approach ... The book’s character-driven chapters yield multiple lessons ... Demands to be heeded by all readers interested in U.S. education and the well-being of children.
An unvarnished look at the troubling ways in which schools can harm students ... This book confronts a depressing truth ... An eyewitness account of the crushing of the human spirit, and it’s heartbreaking. Yet as Ray tells these stories, she only sporadically zooms out to put her observations into broader sociological context. When she does, it’s great; when she doesn’t, readers may scratch their heads wondering what her point is.
