Literature and the New Culture Wars

"Although this book is aimed at teachers, it is a thoughtful (and ambitious) attempt to tamp down the strong emotions that people bring to literature. It would make for interesting book club discussions.--TwinCities.com Pioneer Press Deborah Appleman is one of the legendary mentors of our profession. Her latest and perhaps most courageous book arrives at the right moment to rescue literary education in American schools from the anti-literate, parochial, and self-righteous censors from across the political spectrum, who don't begin to understand that the function of literature is to awaken our sense of outrage and empathy, trouble our platitudes, and arouse us to moral action.--Sheridan Blau, PhD, Professor of Practice in the Teaching of English, Teachers College, Columbia University This is an invigorating call for educators 'to continue to teach challenging texts.'-- ""Publishers Weekly"" If I could buy just one book for every English teacher in America at this time, it would be this one.--Jim Burke, Middle College High School, San Mateo, CA, author of The English Teacher's Companion (Heinemann) and Uncharted Territory You need this book and need it now.--Carol Jago, high school English teacher, past president of the National Council of Teachers of English, and author of The Book in Question: Why and How Reading Is in Crisis Now more than ever, educators need to feel encouraged and empowered to teach literature that reflects what is happening in the world today, that acknowledges and reckons with the past, and that enlivens hope for an equitable and just future. Literature and the New Culture Wars is the book that honors and makes visible those educators doing this necessary work.--Marcelle Haddix, Associate Provost for Strategic Initiatives, Syracuse University"