The Prize

<strong>One of the most important books on education to come along in years. -- <em>New York Times Book Review</em> <p/> A <em>New York Times </em>Notable Book - A Best Book of the Year the <em>Washington Post </em>the<em> Atlantic The New Yorker </em> and <em>Publishers Weekly</em> - A Best History Book of 2015 Amazon - Finalist for the J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize - Finalist for the Bernstein Award - Winner of the New Jersey Studies Academic Alliance Authors Award? <p/> Impeccably researched . . . Russakoff pulls readers in with richly drawn real-world characters. -- <em>Atlantic</em> <p/> Stunning . . . Russakoff's narrative is rich with details and anecdotes that showcase the quality of her writing and bring Newark to life. -- <em>Chicago Tribune</em> <br> </strong> <br> When Mark Zuckerberg announced his $100 million pledge to transform the Newark schools and create an education model that could be applied to any city in the nation it looked like a huge win for New Jersey politicians Cory Booker and Chris Christie. But their plan met the opposition of Newark's key education players who were fiercely protective of their billion-dollar-a-year system -- a prize that for generations had enriched seemingly everyone except Newark's students. With deeply drawn portraits of everyone from the philanthropists throwing millions at a haphazard plan to the teachers fighting to reach students damaged by extreme poverty and violence <em>The Prize </em>is a riveting account of the complexities and challenges that face all of America's failing schools. <br><strong> <br> Russakoff provides insights that should prove useful both to contemporary school reformers and to citizens hoping to understand their efforts. -- <em>Washington Post</em> <p/> A moving and thought-provoking book . . . Invaluable. -- </strong><em><strong>New York Times</strong></em>