"This book's focus is on taking action in the world and making students better-prepared citizens"--

This title offers a richly textured picture of the world of middle-school students. It describes who middle-school students are, explains why fostering their voice is important, and discusses the creation of a community of literacy partners.

Twenty-five leaders from the higher education and service-learning sectors provide insight into what works in building citizenship through civic engagement on their campuses and communities. From small colleges to large universities, these strong voices demonstrate that American democracy is very much active and prepared for the 21st century.

Updated to include a new chapter about the influence of social media and the Internet—the 20th anniversary edition of Bowling Alone remains a seminal work of social analysis, and its examination of what happened to our sense of community remains more relevant than ever in today’s fractured America. Twenty years, ago, Robert D. Putnam made a seemingly simple observation: once we bowled in leagues, usually after work; but no longer. This seemingly small phenomenon symbolized a significant social change that became the basis of the acclaimed bestseller, Bowling Alone, which The Washington Post called “a very important book” and Putnam, “the de Tocqueville of our generation.” Bowling Alone surveyed in detail Americans’ changing behavior over the decades, showing how we had become increasingly disconnected from family, friends, neighbors, and social structures, whether it’s with the PTA, church, clubs, political parties, or bowling leagues. In the revised edition of his classic work, Putnam shows how our shrinking access to the “social capital” that is the reward of communal activity and community sharing still poses a serious threat to our civic and personal health, and how these consequences have a new resonance for our divided country today. He includes critical new material on the pervasive influence of social media and the internet, which has introduced previously unthinkable opportunities for social connection—as well as unprecedented levels of alienation and isolation. At the time of its publication, Putnam’s then-groundbreaking work showed how social bonds are the most powerful predictor of life satisfaction, and how the loss of social capital is felt in critical ways, acting as a strong predictor of crime rates and other measures of neighborhood quality of life, and affecting our health in other ways. While the ways in which we connect, or become disconnected, have changed over the decades, his central argument remains as powerful and urgent as ever: mending our frayed social capital is key to preserving the very fabric of our society.

A New York Times Book Review Notable Book of the Year Abraham Rodriguez, Jr. captures what it's like to grow up too fast amid the crushing poverty of the South Bronx in this collection that depicts a gritty slice of New York Latino life. Boy Without a Flag is "about the rancid underbelly of the American Dream," says the author. "These are the kids no one likes to talk about; they are seen as the enemy by most people. I want to show them as they really are, not as society wishes them to be." In these truth-telling stories about his neighborhood of Puerto Rican adolescents growing up in the South Bronx, Rodriguez introduces us to the youth who fight every day for survival in our cities.

“In her keen-eyed and hilariously funny new book . . . novelist and memoirist Lynn Freed tells how writers deal with life’s large and little tribulations” (O, The Oprah Magazine). These eleven essays combine a memoir of an exotic life, reflections on the art and craft of writing, and a brilliant examination of the ever-complex relationship between fiction and life. “Taming the Gorgon,” an account of translating a difficult parent into fiction becomes a poignant and funny meditation on the intricate knot binding mothers and daughters. The story of a scandal created by publication, “Sex with the Servants” is an inquiry into the porous boundary between private truth and public betrayal. “Distinguished by its emotional honesty and stylish prose,” this blend of lively autobiography and inspiring wisdom puts aside all the fictional disguises and exposes the human being behind the artist (Chicago Tribune). “Lynn Freed is a beautiful writer, dead-on brilliant, rich in humor, possessing a dark and comforting wisdom.” —Anne Lamott, author of Bird by Bird “To the tiny list of necessary books for people who aspire to the writing life . . . must now be added Reading, Writing, and Leaving Home.” —Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post Book World