by Lisa Delpit ; read by Lisa Renee Pitts ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 22, 2016
Delpit's collection of essays highlights striking problems in American education that still impact students 20 years after its initial publication. As Delpit conveys the challenges and frustrations of an educational system that devalues minorities, Lisa Renee Pitts's emphatic, raspy voice carries listener through the numerous points and ideas explored. She also does well with Delpit's sometimes ironic and sardonic commentary, delivering lines with the right timing and projection. One challenge of the book is that the essays often repeat facts, anecdotes, and information, which can be problematic for the listener since it's difficult to fast-forward without getting too lost. However, the listening does provide strong critical insight into how schools continue to fail students.
Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2016
Duration: 9 hrs
Publisher: Tantor Media
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
by Jonathan Kozol ; read by Jack Winston ‧ RELEASE DATE: N/A
Kozol’s shocking exposé of inequities in the funding of our public schools contrasts white suburban schools with those serving black and Hispanic populations. Interviews with students, teachers, and school administrators add eloquent testimony to Kozol’s disturbing presentation of facts. Narration by Jack Winston is clear and brisk, but the pace is unrelenting, with little pause for transition between scenes or chapters. Winston’s cool, detached voice contrasts with Kozol’s impasssioned and outraged message. The sheer repetition and magnitude of Kozol’s damning evidence is numbing; the narration gives no relief. Powerful medicine, most easily taken in small doses. Music signalling tape changes is jarringly inappropriate.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 8 hrs
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
by Stefan Merrill Block ; read by Stefan Merrill Block ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 6, 2026
Block calls into question the validity of the home-schooling system, having personally experienced many of its failures.
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Block narrates his own memoir of being home-schooled by his mother for five years in the 1990s. Aside from a few math lessons, young Stefan is left to his own devices and uses his time to watch television or wander outside. By the time he re-enters the public school system in ninth grade, he is woefully behind, both academically and socially. Although Block’s story is filled with emotional trauma, including an overbearing mother and bullying from fellow students, his narration is unsentimental, as if he expected his life to be this way. The steel in his voice conveys his resilience and determination.
Block calls into question the validity of the home-schooling system, having personally experienced many of its failures.Pub Date: Jan. 6, 2026
Duration: 7 hrs
DD ISBN: 9781488237102
Publisher: Harper Audio
Review Posted Online: March 25, 2026
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