"In this original and beautifully crafted book , Melissa Landa draws upon her love of language and literature to argue the importance of cross-cultural understandings for teachers and students in their instructional relationships. Grounded in an insightful analysis of urban school systems, and courageously mining her own biography of growing up in apartheid South Africa, the author weaves powerful stories of five teachers, who use literature to engage their students in difficult conversations about social and cultural divides. Through powerful images of collaborative classroom cultures, and teachers who cross boundaries to navigate school system demands, while always putting children first, Landa expands and sharpens possibilities for transformative teaching and teacher education, and greater educational equity."

-Linda Valli, Ph.D.

University of Maryland