The Liberal Politics & Current Events Book Club discussion

We'll be reading Hold Fast to Dreams: A College Guidance Counselor, His Students, and the Vision of a Life Beyond Poverty by Beth Zasloff through June 18th.

Beth and I would be thrilled to talk more about Hold Fast to Dreams in this forum.

Why not share something from the book for those of us who are just curious about it.

Thanks for the prompt, Jimmy. Haven't done this before. Hope this inspires folks to take a look.

Here's an excerpt from Hold Fast to Dreams: A College Guidance Counselor, His Students, and the Vision of a Life Beyond Poverty published recently in Chalkbeat NY: http://ny.chalkbeat.org/2014/05/09/a-...

And an adaptation from the Atlantic: http://www.theatlantic.com/education/...

And here are the book's opening paragraphs, which give a sense of its scope:

"Thinking about college is like thinking about life."
—Scott Way, at age 16

We wrote this book to document the struggles and triumphs of students like those Josh has worked with during his eight years as a college counselor in the New York City public schools: young people whose stories are too often left out of the national conversation about college or reduced to grim statistics. It is not a how-to book or an application guide. Through the lens of Josh’s work with ten students, we try to bring to life what it is like to be a low-income student of color trying to get to—and through—college in America today.

The ten students’ stories begin with their work with Josh in high school. As Scott suggests, “thinking about college” spurs big and difficult questions about who they are and what they can become. The students’ narratives then expand into an exploration of the educational, professional, personal, and spiritual choices they face after their high school graduations. In their reflections and memories, students capture the experience of coming of age in a society where the American dream of opportunity through education often clashes with another defining American narrative: that of poverty as a vicious cycle that only the most determined young people can break.

It sounds like a fascinating book, Josh. Where is it available?

Thanks, Lisa! Hold Fast to Dreams: A College Guidance Counselor, His Students, and the Vision of a Life Beyond Poverty is available everywhere books are sold. Also available for kindle and on audiobook through Audible.

Here are easy links...

directly from The New Press:
https://www.thenewpress.com/books/hol...
(30% discount for educators: EDUDISC)

from indiebound, to support local bookstore:
http://www.indiebound.org/book/978159...

or amazon, where there are additional excerpts from the book:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1595...

and barnes and noble:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/hold-...

Thanks, Joshua. I'll find it and I look forward to reading it.