World Class by Teru Clavel

WORLD CLASS by Teru Clavel describes “One Mother's Journey Halfway Around the Globe in Search of the Best Education for Her Children” since they attended school in Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Tokyo before moving back to the United States. This is definitely a topic of high interest to our students, especially those whose parents may have been educated in other countries. There are certainly cultural differences and attitudes which are fascinating and Clavel describes many of them.  However, she is extremely negative about the Palo Alto school district, one of our sister schools. Frankly, this caused me to wonder how reasonable it was to try to generalize her children’s experience(s) as describing an entire nation’s (or region’s) school system? As other reviewers have noted, I do believe that her intentions were good, but I felt that she often made sweeping statements which were rather simplistic and sometimes repetitive, as she herself says, “One of the hard truths I came around to in California was that I’d been a little naïve about the US education system in general. … I had downplayed in my own mind how deeply rooted and systemic the problems are.”  To her credit, she includes extensive notes and references, plus a glossary and index. Also, Clavel, draws a number of parallels, noting, for example that in 2017 the OECD found that globally teachers make an average of 88 percent of the salary of those in other professions with the same level of education (in US middle schools, that figure is 60 percent) – if we want the best teachers (and reduced turnover) for our children, we should reflect that in our compensation and provide better financial incentives. I also liked how she tried to steer the conversation to learning, rather than schools, although I believe there is much more that could have been written about innovation in American schools relative to Asian ones. Overall, her suggestions about dealing with administrators or encouraging your child to read the classics seemed unrealistic for many parents. She says, “I’ve always believed that you assess your child’s education every day and then support them as best you can” which is certainly important, but at what point should those students be taking increased responsibility for their own intellectual and emotional growth? If you are interested in education, I would suggest beginning by shadowing a high school student at your local school as well as reading other titles, such as these recent ones.

The Rationing by Charles Wheelan

THE RATIONING by Charles Wheelan is a fabulous work of political satire set in the near future. The narrator is a scientist who specializes in lurking viruses – generally benign organisms which suddenly become virulent. Some basic science is certainly important to this tale, but there is much more about corporate greed, media manipulation and politics – both domestic and international. The politicians and bureaucrats are referred to only by their titles which, for me, added authenticity to this speculative work. Wheelan’s wry tone and style of writing caused me to almost immediately think of Aaron Sorkin’s West Wing and even more of Allen Drury and his best-sellers, beginning with Advise and Consent. As one quick example, the scientist narrator, preparing to be interviewed on a news show, is told by the Communications Director: “Don’t even listen to the question. When her lips stop moving, you give the answer you want to give.” THE RATIONING is one of those stories about complex real world events where every time the situation seems evenly remotely under control, yet another aspect has the potential to become a crisis or another unintended consequence becomes apparent. Wheelan alluded to numerous “what ifs” as he related this detailed, entertaining account of “utter craziness” as America faced The Outbreak.

If Charles Wheelan’s name seems familiar, it should; he is the author of several non-fiction titles, including Naked Economics which, though published several years ago, is still required summer reading for our AP Economics classes. I can’t wait to see what Wheelan writes next and appreciated his mention in the Acknowledgments of a local independent bookstore, The Book Bin in Northbrook. THE RATIONING received a starred review from Kirkus.

Women's Work by Megan K. Stack

WOMEN’S WORK by National Book Award finalist Megan K. Stack explores a “Reckoning with Work and Home” by relating events from Stack’s time living in Beijing and India.  During those periods she and her husband became parents. They employed housekeepers and childcare workers – “migrants who’d left their own children behind to work in the city, and ended up in my house.” This extremely personal and well-written text describes Stack’s feelings about work (she had been a foreign correspondent for the Los Angeles Times) and motherhood, noting “Job, book, baby: I’d forced myself to choose the one I loved least. It was a terrible choice because I loved each of them.” WOMEN’S WORK also confronts the ideas of feminism and privilege as Stack strives to explore the lives, homes, and families of the women who worked for/with her and says, “Xiao Li, Mary, and Pooja will forever give me strength and push me forward to what needs to be done.” 

Stack recounts in detail her own experiences with post-partum depression, concluding at one point, “If a woman is in an intolerable situation, the answer is not to drug her so that she can tolerate it.  The answer should be – should be – to change the intolerable situation.” And, she honestly reflects on the role of men, particularly fathers and husbands (expat or not), who often fail to appreciate the ambivalence - even guilt - over the unsatisfactory compromises involved with employing domestic workers. In addition, she writes about Asia: “[China and India] represent our collective future; they are the stuff of the world’s dreams and nightmares. They are also places that have made statistical headway towards erasing women.” There is SO much to explore here and our students could certainly use this book as a Junior Theme research text or perhaps read portions for Senior Writers Seminar. I definitely recommend WOMEN’S WORK which received a starred review from Kirkus.