An upbeat treatise on the strengths of U.S. schools that would have benefited from more specifics.
Tech entrepreneur Sahin makes a case for the benefits of the contemporary American K-12 and university systems.
The author immigrated from Turkey to the United States as a teenage foreign-exchange student and completed a doctorate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s School of Industrial Management; he went on to build companies in the tech sector and amass a large fortune. Drawing on his experiences, Sahin describes what he perceives as the many praiseworthy aspects of U.S. education. He asserts that it isn’t failing youth in the 21st century, as many believe, but uniquely capable of creating “well-rounded individuals,” and he credits the degree of decentralization and local control as a major reason for its robustness. Despite evident disparities in funding and outcomes in various American schools, he presents the nation’s primary and secondary educational systems as laboratories of innovation. Specifically, he sees competition between educational institutions—public, charter, and private—as a source of strength, and an extension of the market-based economics that shape American society. He also notes a spirit of volunteerism and initiative, suggesting that these cultivate leadership skills in students that other countries’ schools don’t teach. This element, he says, attracts students from around the world to the United States. Throughout this work, many readers may wish that the author had cited more statistics to support his positive assertions. That said, Sahin does concede that there is much room for improvement in U.S. schools; for example, he notes the ongoing crisis in special education funding, the declining enrollments that many schools face as a result of declining birth rates, and the increase in educational costs beyond the rate of inflation. Nevertheless, he argues that the American educational system has consistently demonstrated the ability to evolve in response to social changes, and he anticipates its continued resilience.
An upbeat treatise on the strengths of U.S. schools that would have benefited from more specifics.Pub Date: Oct. 21, 2025
ISBN: 9798887507323
Page Count: 176
Publisher: ForbesBooks
Review Posted Online: Oct. 10, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A short, smart analysis of perhaps the most famous passage in American history reveals its potency and unfulfilled promise.
Words that made a nation.
Isaacson is known for expansive biographies of great thinkers (and Elon Musk), but here he pens a succinct, stimulating commentary on the Founding Fathers’ ode to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” His close reading of the Declaration of Independence’s second sentence, published to mark the 250th anniversary of the document’s adoption, doesn’t downplay its “moral contradiction.” Thomas Jefferson enslaved hundreds of people yet called slavery “a cruel war against human nature” in his first draft of the Declaration. All but 15 of the document’s 56 signers owned enslaved people. While the sentence in question asserted “all men are created equal” and possess “unalienable rights,” the Founders “consciously and intentionally” excluded women, Native Americans, and enslaved people. And yet the sentence is powerful, Isaacson writes, because it names a young nation’s “aspirations.” He mounts a solid defense of what ought to be shared goals, among them economic fairness, “moral compassion,” and a willingness to compromise. “Democracy depends on this,” he writes. Isaacson is excellent when explaining how Enlightenment intellectuals abroad influenced the founders. Benjamin Franklin, one of the Declaration’s “five-person drafting committee,” stayed in David Hume’s home for a month in the early 1770s, “discussing ideas of natural rights” with the Scottish philosopher. Also strong is Isaacson’s discussion of the “edits and tweaks” made to Jefferson’s draft. As recommended by Franklin and others, the changes were substantial, leaving Jefferson “distraught.” Franklin, who emerges as the book’s hero, helped establish municipal services, founded a library, and encouraged religious diversity—the kind of civic-mindedness that we could use more of today, Isaacson reminds us.
A short, smart analysis of perhaps the most famous passage in American history reveals its potency and unfulfilled promise.Pub Date: Nov. 18, 2025
ISBN: 9781982181314
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Aug. 29, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
A familiar format, but a timely reminder that cities are made up of individuals, each with their own stories.
Portraits in a post-pandemic world.
After the Covid-19 lockdowns left New York City’s streets empty, many claimed that the city was “gone forever.” It was those words that inspired Stanton, whose previous collections include Humans of New York (2013), Humans of New York: Stories (2015), and Humans (2020), to return to the well once more for a new love letter to the city’s humanity and diversity. Beautifully laid out in hardcover with crisp, bright images, each portrait of a New Yorker is accompanied by sparse but potent quotes from Stanton’s interviews with his subjects. Early in the book, the author sequences three portraits—a couple laughing, then looking serious, then the woman with tears in her eyes—as they recount the arc of their relationship, transforming each emotional beat of their story into an affecting visual narrative. In another, an unhoused man sits on the street, his husky eating out of his hand. The caption: “I’m a late bloomer.” Though the pandemic isn’t mentioned often, Stanton focuses much of the book on optimistic stories of the post-pandemic era. Among the most notable profiles is Myles Smutney, founder of the Free Store Project, whose story of reclaiming boarded‑up buildings during the lockdowns speaks to the city’s resilience. In reusing the same formula from his previous books, the author confirms his thesis: New York isn’t going anywhere. As he writes in his lyrical prologue, “Just as one might dive among coral reefs to marvel at nature, one can come to New York City to marvel at humanity.” The book’s optimism paints New York as a city where diverse lives converge in moments of beauty, joy, and collective hope.
A familiar format, but a timely reminder that cities are made up of individuals, each with their own stories.Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781250277589
Page Count: 480
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: Aug. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2025
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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