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THE SCHOOLHOUSE GATE

Name: THE SCHOOLHOUSE GATE
Author: Justin Driver
ISBN: 978-1-101-87165-2

PUBLIC EDUCATION, THE SUPREME COURT, AND THE BATTLE FOR THE AMERICAN MIND

by Justin Driver ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 4, 2018

Thorough, accessible, and always relevant, this is a valuable service and reference for legal practitioners, educators,...

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A compendium of constitutional law as it relates to public schools.

In his book-length debut, Driver (Law/Univ. of Chicago), an editor of the Supreme Court Review and former Supreme Court clerk for Sandra Day O’Connor and Stephen Breyer, assembles a coherent summary of court opinions governing a wide variety of topics bearing on public education. He contends that "the public school has served as the single most significant site of constitutional interpretation within the nation's history." This is because "the cultural anxieties that pervade the larger society often flash where law and education converge….Then we engage in an argument that is fundamentally about what sort of nation we want the United States to be." Driver explores the strange twists of school desegregation law flowing from Brown v. Board of Education along with wide-ranging coverage of such topics as students' freedom of expression; the place of prayer and religion in schools; school discipline, searches, and drug testing; and interdistrict funding disparities. The author accompanies the summaries of the decisions themselves with a survey of their receptions in the popular press and in legal academic circles. Driver often adds his own opinions of many of the decisions, but he is not overbearing about it, and his positions are generally well-grounded and well-argued. The topics are thoughtfully organized and presented in a style that is precise enough for lawyers while remaining lively for educators and concerned parents, always keeping in view the human stories behind the landmark cases. One of Driver’s major concerns is that students will get early and vivid impressions of their rights as citizens from their treatment at school, and he often finds that treatment wanting.

Thorough, accessible, and always relevant, this is a valuable service and reference for legal practitioners, educators, parents, and citizens concerned about constitutional rights in the context of public education.

Pub Date: Sept. 4, 2018

ISBN: 978-1-101-87165-2

Page Count: 544

Publisher: Pantheon

Review Posted Online: June 17, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.