Every story is as unique as the person who tells it. Every person is as strong as their experience makes them. Are you tired of flippant advice given by those who don't understand? I am not you. I can sympathize, I can empathize, but I can't truely understand. Still... I offer hope. You have a story. This book is a collection of our stories. Teens, like you and I, share their stories of encouragement in the midst of divorce, abuse,eating disorders, drinking, teenage pregnancy, relocation, and losing a parent. Not everyone's opinions and remarks matter. What graffiti will you allow on the walls of your life?

Tough Fronts takes the difficult issues in urban education head on by putting street-savvy students at the forefront of the discussion on how to best make successful changes for inner city schools. Individual chapters discuss scholarly depictions of black America, the social complexity of the teacher-student relationship, individual success stories of 'at-risk' programs, popular images of urban students, and implications for education policy. With close attention to the voices of individual students, this engaging book gives vitality and legitimacy to arguments for school changes that have been lacking in previous discussions.

Teaching Tough Topics shows teachers how to lead students to become caring citizens as they read and respond to quality children’s literature. It focuses on topics that can be challenging or sensitive, yet are significant in order to build understanding of social justice, diversity, and equity. Racism, Homophobia, Bullying, Religious Intolerance, Poverty, and Physical and Mental Challenges are just some of the themes explored. The book is rooted in the belief that by using picture books, novels, poetry, and nonfiction, teachers can enrich learning with compassion and empathy as students make connections to texts, to others, and to the world.

A 2016 Coretta Scott King Author Honor book, and recipient of the Walter Dean Myers Award for Outstanding Children’s Literature. In this New York Times bestselling novel, two teens—one black, one white—grapple with the repercussions of a single violent act that leaves their school, their community, and, ultimately, the country bitterly divided by racial tension. A bag of chips. That’s all sixteen-year-old Rashad is looking for at the corner bodega. What he finds instead is a fist-happy cop, Paul Galluzzo, who mistakes Rashad for a shoplifter, mistakes Rashad’s pleadings that he’s stolen nothing for belligerence, mistakes Rashad’s resistance to leave the bodega as resisting arrest, mistakes Rashad’s every flinch at every punch the cop throws as further resistance and refusal to STAY STILL as ordered. But how can you stay still when someone is pounding your face into the concrete pavement? There were witnesses: Quinn Collins—a varsity basketball player and Rashad’s classmate who has been raised by Paul since his own father died in Afghanistan—and a video camera. Soon the beating is all over the news and Paul is getting threatened with accusations of prejudice and racial brutality. Quinn refuses to believe that the man who has basically been his savior could possibly be guilty. But then Rashad is absent. And absent again. And again. And the basketball team—half of whom are Rashad’s best friends—start to take sides. As does the school. And the town. Simmering tensions threaten to explode as Rashad and Quinn are forced to face decisions and consequences they had never considered before. Written in tandem by two award-winning authors, this four-starred reviewed tour de force shares the alternating perspectives of Rashad and Quinn as the complications from that single violent moment, the type taken directly from today’s headlines, unfold and reverberate to highlight an unwelcome truth.

- NEW! Next Generation NCLEX® (NGN) examination-style case studies expose students to how content will be tested in the exam; case studies are either single-situation or unfolding studies. - NEW! Updated Drug Guides summarize the latest information on medications.

Issues in K-12 Education is a contemporary collection of articles covering core issues within the broad topic of K-12 Education. The book is intended to supplement core courses in the Education curriculum titled Foundations of Education, Introduction to Teaching, Introduction to Education, and Issues in Education, among other similarly titled courses. The book progresses through a 3-part structure of topics generally covered in Foundations or Introduction to Education courses and texts: Issues in Justice, Equity, and Equality; Issues in Teaching and Learning; and Issues in School Environment. In total, we will have 19 articles.