​​​​A Light Shines in Harlem​

A Light Shines in Harlem is "a wonderful tribute to Sisulu-Walker..."—President Bill Clinton

 

Publishers Weekly

One of ten non-fiction books recommended on Publishers Weekly’s “Notable African-American Interest Titles, Fall 2014-Spring 2015” 

 

The New York Times

 “A Light Shines in Harlem by Mary C. Bounds is an accomplished journalist’s microcosmic retrospective on the Sisulu-Walker Charter School…So much about quality education seems like common sense, but thanks to Ms. Bounds for reminding us…Exploring ‘the hundreds of small decisions and big risks that go into creating and leading a school, not the generalities of textbooks and manifestoes,’ Ms. Bounds encapsulates solutions.”—Sam Roberts

 

The Harvard Kennedy School’s Education Next journal

"From this book one learns how difficult and complicated it is to open a charter school." —Nathan Glazer, professor emeritus of education and sociology at Harvard University

 

The Huffington Post

“A Light Shines in Harlem tracks the tenacity and heroism of a few of the reform movement's earliest and lesser known pioneers, in standing up to those who refused to give up their power to allow new lights to shine, no matter how successful they were.”—Jeanne Allen

 

The Manhattan Institute’s City Journal

“At its heart, A Light Shines is the story of an unlikely partnership between a Wall Street hotshot and a Harlem minister, the little-school-that-could they created together on 115th Street, and the path that they’ve charted for educational equity in New York—and across the nation.—Charles Upton Sahm

 

The Harvard University Kennedy School’s Education Next journal

One of seven books that landed on Education Next”s “Education Books Make Great Gifts”

 

The Center for Education Reform Newswire

“A new, must-read book that tells the poignant, impactful story of Sisulu-Walker Charter School of Harlem, the first-ever charter school to open in New York.”