-
Hold Fast to Dreams
- A College Guidance Counselor, His Students, and the Vision of a Life Beyond Poverty
- Narrated by: Kaleo Griffith
- Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $24.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Publisher's summary
Since Joshua Steckel began work at a Brooklyn public high school as its first-ever college guidance counselor, every one of the hundreds of graduates he has counseled has been accepted to college, many to top-flight schools with all expenses paid. But getting in is only one small part of the drama of his students’ stories. In a riveting work of narrative nonfiction - winner of a Studs and Ida Terkel award - Hold Fast to Dreams follows the lives of 10 of Josh’s students as they navigate the vast and obstacle-ridden landscape of college in America, where students for whom the stakes of education are highest find unequal access and inadequate support.
Among the 10 unforgettable students we meet are: Mike, who writes his personal essays from a homeless shelter and is torn between his longing to get away to an idyllic college campus and his fear of leaving his mother and brothers in desperate circumstances; Santiago, a talented, motivated, and undocumented student, who battles bureaucracy and low expectations as he seeks a life outside the low-wage world of hard manual labor to which his immigration status threatens to consign him; and Ashley, who pursues her ambition to become a doctor with almost superhuman drive but then forges a path that challenges received wisdom about the value of an elite, liberal arts education.
At a time when the idea of "college for all" is alternately embraced and challenged, this important book uncovers, in heartrending detail, the many ways the American education system fails in its promise as a ladder to opportunity. But it also provides hope in its portrayal of the extraordinary intelligence, resilience, and everyday heroics of the young people whose futures are too often lamented or ignored and whose voices, insights, and vision our colleges - and our country - desperately need. Hold Fast to Dreams will grab you on the first page and will stay with you for a long time. It should be required listening for anyone who cares about the right to education in America.
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Where You Go Is Not Who You'll Be
- An Antidote to the College Admissions Mania
- By: Frank Bruni
- Narrated by: Frank Bruni
- Length: 5 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Over the last few decades, Americans have turned college admissions into a terrifying and occasionally devastating process, preceded by test prep, tutors, all sorts of stratagems, all kinds of rankings, and a conviction among too many young people that their futures will be determined and their worth established by which schools say yes and which say no.
-
-
A relatable and relevant book for our time
- By M_BTV on 05-18-15
By: Frank Bruni
-
Becoming
- By: Michelle Obama
- Narrated by: Michelle Obama
- Length: 19 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In her memoir, a work of deep reflection and mesmerizing storytelling, Michelle Obama invites listeners into her world, chronicling the experiences that have shaped her - from her childhood on the South Side of Chicago to her years as an executive balancing the demands of motherhood and work to her time spent at the world's most famous address. With unerring honesty and lively wit, she describes her triumphs and her disappointments, both public and private, telling her full story as she has lived it - in her own words and on her own terms.
-
-
Didn't know what I was getting into
- By Kenneth Woodward on 12-05-18
By: Michelle Obama
-
Hillbilly Elegy
- A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis
- By: J. D. Vance
- Narrated by: J. D. Vance
- Length: 6 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hillbilly Elegy is a passionate and personal analysis of a culture in crisis - that of white working-class Americans. The decline of this group, a demographic of our country that has been slowly disintegrating over 40 years, has been reported on with growing frequency and alarm but has never before been written about as searingly from the inside. J. D. Vance tells the true story of what a social, regional, and class decline feels like when you were born with it hung around your neck.
-
-
In Mamaw's Contradictions Lay Great Wisdom
- By Cynthia on 11-20-16
By: J. D. Vance
-
We Were Dreamers
- An Immigrant Superhero Origin Story
- By: Simu Liu
- Narrated by: Simu Liu
- Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The star of Marvel’s first Asian superhero film, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, tells his own origin story of being a Chinese immigrant, his battles with cultural stereotypes and his own identity, becoming a TV star, and landing the role of a lifetime.
-
-
This Asian-American Approves.
- By Jasmine Y. on 06-04-22
By: Simu Liu
-
The Secret to Success
- By: Eric Thomas
- Narrated by: Charles Arrington, Eric Thomas
- Length: 5 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Eric Thomas is rising to national prominence by delivering a high energy message that tells youth through first hand experience how to live up to their full potential and greatness and by breaking the cycles of crime, hopelessness and despair that many face daily. Known for his engagingly personal approach, his messages are both dynamic & inspiring. When coupled with his own cycle-breaking experience, his blunt essays on reality and remarkable ability to reach even the most jaded of minds.
-
-
Title is misleading
- By Dee on 11-01-13
By: Eric Thomas
-
How to Raise an Adult
- Break Free of the Overparenting Trap and Prepare Your Kid for Success
- By: Julie Lythcott-Haims
- Narrated by: Julie Lythcott-Haims
- Length: 12 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In How to Raise an Adult, Julie Lythcott-Haims draws on research; on conversations with admissions officers, educators, and employers; and on her own insights as a mother and as a student dean to highlight the ways in which overparenting harms children, their stressed-out parents, and society at large.
-
-
Target Audience- Upper-Middle Class
- By Savy shopper on 06-02-16
-
Where You Go Is Not Who You'll Be
- An Antidote to the College Admissions Mania
- By: Frank Bruni
- Narrated by: Frank Bruni
- Length: 5 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Over the last few decades, Americans have turned college admissions into a terrifying and occasionally devastating process, preceded by test prep, tutors, all sorts of stratagems, all kinds of rankings, and a conviction among too many young people that their futures will be determined and their worth established by which schools say yes and which say no.
-
-
A relatable and relevant book for our time
- By M_BTV on 05-18-15
By: Frank Bruni
-
Becoming
- By: Michelle Obama
- Narrated by: Michelle Obama
- Length: 19 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In her memoir, a work of deep reflection and mesmerizing storytelling, Michelle Obama invites listeners into her world, chronicling the experiences that have shaped her - from her childhood on the South Side of Chicago to her years as an executive balancing the demands of motherhood and work to her time spent at the world's most famous address. With unerring honesty and lively wit, she describes her triumphs and her disappointments, both public and private, telling her full story as she has lived it - in her own words and on her own terms.
-
-
Didn't know what I was getting into
- By Kenneth Woodward on 12-05-18
By: Michelle Obama
-
Hillbilly Elegy
- A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis
- By: J. D. Vance
- Narrated by: J. D. Vance
- Length: 6 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hillbilly Elegy is a passionate and personal analysis of a culture in crisis - that of white working-class Americans. The decline of this group, a demographic of our country that has been slowly disintegrating over 40 years, has been reported on with growing frequency and alarm but has never before been written about as searingly from the inside. J. D. Vance tells the true story of what a social, regional, and class decline feels like when you were born with it hung around your neck.
-
-
In Mamaw's Contradictions Lay Great Wisdom
- By Cynthia on 11-20-16
By: J. D. Vance
-
We Were Dreamers
- An Immigrant Superhero Origin Story
- By: Simu Liu
- Narrated by: Simu Liu
- Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The star of Marvel’s first Asian superhero film, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, tells his own origin story of being a Chinese immigrant, his battles with cultural stereotypes and his own identity, becoming a TV star, and landing the role of a lifetime.
-
-
This Asian-American Approves.
- By Jasmine Y. on 06-04-22
By: Simu Liu
-
The Secret to Success
- By: Eric Thomas
- Narrated by: Charles Arrington, Eric Thomas
- Length: 5 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Eric Thomas is rising to national prominence by delivering a high energy message that tells youth through first hand experience how to live up to their full potential and greatness and by breaking the cycles of crime, hopelessness and despair that many face daily. Known for his engagingly personal approach, his messages are both dynamic & inspiring. When coupled with his own cycle-breaking experience, his blunt essays on reality and remarkable ability to reach even the most jaded of minds.
-
-
Title is misleading
- By Dee on 11-01-13
By: Eric Thomas
-
How to Raise an Adult
- Break Free of the Overparenting Trap and Prepare Your Kid for Success
- By: Julie Lythcott-Haims
- Narrated by: Julie Lythcott-Haims
- Length: 12 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In How to Raise an Adult, Julie Lythcott-Haims draws on research; on conversations with admissions officers, educators, and employers; and on her own insights as a mother and as a student dean to highlight the ways in which overparenting harms children, their stressed-out parents, and society at large.
-
-
Target Audience- Upper-Middle Class
- By Savy shopper on 06-02-16
-
The Bridge to Brilliance
- How One Principal in a Tough Community Is Inspiring the World
- By: Nadia Lopez, Rebecca Paley
- Narrated by: Adenrele Ojo, Nadia Lopez
- Length: 7 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When 13-year-old Vidal Chastanet told photographer Brandon Stanton that his principal, Ms. Lopez, was the person who most influenced his life, it was the pebble that started a whirlwind for Nadia Lopez and her small, new public school in one of Brooklyn's most wretched communities. The posting on Stanton's wildly popular site, Humans of New York ( HONY), went megaviral. Lopez - not long before on the verge of quitting - found herself in the national spotlight and headed for a meeting with Obama as well as the beneficiary of a million-dollar IndieGoGo campaign.
-
-
Phenomenal!
- By Amazon Customer on 10-26-16
By: Nadia Lopez, and others
-
Wait, What?
- And Life's Other Essential Questions
- By: James E. Ryan
- Narrated by: James E. Ryan
- Length: 2 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In his commencement address to the graduating class of 2016, James E. Ryan, dean of the Harvard University Graduate School of Education, offered remarkable advice to the crowd of hopeful men and women eager to make their marks on the world. The key to achieving emotional connections and social progress, he told them, can be found in five essential questions.
-
-
Great For Our Jobs, Our Families, Our Lives!
- By Gillian on 05-18-18
By: James E. Ryan
-
Sleeping Giants
- Authentic Stories and Insights for Building a Life That Matters
- By: Dr. Nathan Mellor
- Narrated by: Dr. Nathan Mellor
- Length: 8 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Your mental model is not rigid. At any point in life, you possess the ability to change your perspective. Have you found that success does not erase insecurity and self-doubt? Do you know what it feels like to long for a different life? Sleeping Giants provides practical insights into how ordinary people can choose to build lives that matter.
-
-
Like blurry eye sight that becomes clear
- By Dallas on 02-25-23
-
The Smartest Kids in the World
- And How They Got That Way
- By: Amanda Ripley
- Narrated by: Kate Reading
- Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How do other countries create "smarter" kids? In a handful of nations, virtually all children are learning to make complex arguments and solve problems they've never seen before. They are learning to think, in other words, and to thrive in the modern economy.What is it like to be a child in the world's new education superpowers? In a global quest to find answers for our own children, author and Time magazine journalist Amanda Ripley follows three Americans embedded in these countries for one year.
-
-
a Wanna-be fiction writer avoids the subject
- By Niall on 11-23-13
By: Amanda Ripley
-
A Doctor in the House
- My Life with Ben Carson
- By: Candy Carson
- Narrated by: Candy Carson
- Length: 6 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Like most Americans, you might think of Ben Carson as a trailblazing brain surgeon and, in the last few years, as an outspoken commentator on national issues. But his wife of more than 40 years knows him as so much more: A loving husband, a devoted father, a devout Christian, a committed philanthropist, and a fierce patriot. Now Candy Carson introduces us to the private side of a very public figure as she shares the inspiring story of their marriage and their family.
-
-
Awesome, wonderful
- By Liza on 12-09-16
By: Candy Carson
-
A Personal Odyssey
- By: Thomas Sowell
- Narrated by: Jeff Riggenbach
- Length: 10 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Here is the gritty, powerful story of Thomas Sowell's life-long education in the school of hard knocks, a journey that took him from Harlem to the Marines, the Ivy League, and a career as a controversial writer, teacher, and economist in government and private industry. It is also the story of the dramatically changing times in which this personal odyssey took place.
-
-
Thomas Sowell: An American treasure!
- By Wayne on 06-30-20
By: Thomas Sowell
-
How to Be Black
- By: Baratunde Thurston
- Narrated by: Baratunde Thurston
- Length: 6 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Beyond memoir, this guidebook offers practical advice on everything from "How to Be the Black Friend" to "How to Be the (Next) Black President" to "How to Celebrate Black History Month". This is a humorous, intelligent, and audacious guide that challenges and satirizes the so-called experts, purists, and racists who purport to speak for all Black people. With honest storytelling and biting wit, Baratunde plots a path not just to blackness, but one open to anyone interested in simply "how to be".
-
-
Funny yet insightful!
- By Theodore on 02-15-12
-
The Beloved World of Sonia Sotomayor
- By: Sonia Sotomayor
- Narrated by: Jaina Lee Ortiz, Sonia Sotomayor
- Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sonia Sotomayor, the first Hispanic and third woman appointed to the Supreme Court of the United States, was a young girl when she dared to dream big. Her dream? To become a lawyer and a judge. Sonia did not let the hardships of her background - which included growing up in the rough housing projects of New York City's South Bronx, dealing with juvenile diabetes, coping with parents who argued and fought personal demons, and worrying about money - stand in her way. Always, she believed in herself. Her determination propelled her ever forward.
-
-
Heard this in one sitting
- By MamaDskee on 09-28-18
By: Sonia Sotomayor
-
Extraordinary, Ordinary People
- A Memoir of Family
- By: Condoleezza Rice
- Narrated by: Condoleezza Rice
- Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is the story of Condoleezza Rice that has never been told, not that of an ultra-accomplished world leader, but of a little girl - and a young woman - trying to find her place in a sometimes hostile world, and of two exceptional parents, and an extended family and community, that made all the difference.
-
-
Fabulous!
- By Steve on 03-03-11
By: Condoleezza Rice
-
An Unlikely Journey
- Waking Up from My American Dream
- By: Julian Castro
- Narrated by: Julian Castro
- Length: 5 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The keynote speaker at the 2012 DNC and the former San Antonio mayor and secretary of housing and urban development, Julian Castro, tells his remarkable and inspiring life story.
-
-
Engaging
- By Jean on 03-20-19
By: Julian Castro
-
It Takes a School
- The Extraordinary Story of an American School in the World’s #1 Failed State
- By: Jonathan Starr
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 7 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jonathan Starr is not your traditional do-gooder, and in 2009, when he decided to found Abaarso, a secondary school in Somaliland, the choice seemed crazy to even his closest friends. Why, they wondered, would he turn down a life of relative luxury to relocate to an armed compound in a breakaway region of the world's number one failed state? To achieve his mission, Starr would have to overcome profound cultural differences, broken promises, and threats to his safety and that of his staff.
-
-
enjoyed
- By tony on 09-20-22
By: Jonathan Starr
-
Uncensored
- My Life and Uncomfortable Conversations at the Intersection of Black and White America
- By: Zachary R. Wood
- Narrated by: Zachary R. Wood
- Length: 7 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As the former president of the student group Uncomfortable Learning at his alma mater, Williams College, Zachary Wood knows from experience about intellectual controversy. At school and beyond, there's no one Zach refuses to engage with simply because he disagrees with their beliefs - sometimes vehemently so - and this view has given him a unique platform in the media. But Zach has never shared the details of his own personal story. In Uncensored, he reveals for the first time how he grew up poor and Black in Washington, DC.
-
-
The honesty
- By Kiara on 03-19-24
By: Zachary R. Wood
Related to this topic
-
The Pact
- Three Young Men Make a Promise and Fulfill a Dream
- By: Drs. Sampson Davis, George Jenkins, Rameck Hunt
- Narrated by: Drs. Sampson Davis, George Jenkins, Rameck Hunt
- Length: 5 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
All too often, we hear about the dangers of male friendships in which peer pressure prevails over common sense. But for George Jenkins, Sampson Davis, and Rameck Hunt, strong and supportive male friendship was a powerful antidote to the temptations and pitfalls of street life. It led three boys to make a vow to be there for one another, to encourage one another every step of the way, until they overcame the odds and became doctors.
-
-
Very Inspirational
- By Heather on 04-10-09
By: Drs. Sampson Davis, and others
-
Radical
- Fighting to Put Students First
- By: Michelle Rhee
- Narrated by: Shannon McManus
- Length: 8 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Part memoir, part manifesto, Radical is this fearless advocate's incisive, intensely personal call-to-arms. Rhee combines the story of her own extraordinary experience with dozens of compelling examples from schools she's worked in and studied-from students from unspeakable home lives who have thrived in the classroom to teachers whose radical methods have produced unprecedented leaps in achievement. Radical chronicles Rhee's awakening to the potential of every child, her rage at the special interests blocking badly-needed change, and her recognition that it will take a grassroots movement to create outstanding public schools.
-
-
Good read after seeing Waiting for Superman
- By Marie on 04-10-13
By: Michelle Rhee
-
Whatever It Takes
- Geoffrey Canada's Quest to Change Harlem and America
- By: Paul Tough
- Narrated by: Ax Norman
- Length: 10 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What would it take?That was the question that Geoffrey Canada found himself asking. What would it take to change the lives of poor children, not one by one, through heroic interventions and occasional miracles, but in big numbers, and in a way that could be replicated nationwide? The question led him to create the Harlem Children's Zone, a 97-block laboratory in central Harlem where he is testing new and sometimes controversial ideas about poverty in America.
-
-
Aboslutely terrific!
- By Anthony on 09-21-10
By: Paul Tough
-
Wait, What?
- And Life's Other Essential Questions
- By: James E. Ryan
- Narrated by: James E. Ryan
- Length: 2 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In his commencement address to the graduating class of 2016, James E. Ryan, dean of the Harvard University Graduate School of Education, offered remarkable advice to the crowd of hopeful men and women eager to make their marks on the world. The key to achieving emotional connections and social progress, he told them, can be found in five essential questions.
-
-
Great For Our Jobs, Our Families, Our Lives!
- By Gillian on 05-18-18
By: James E. Ryan
-
It Was All a Dream
- A New Generation Confronts the Broken Promise to Black America
- By: Reniqua Allen
- Narrated by: Shayna Small
- Length: 12 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Reniqua Allen tells the stories of Black millennials searching for a better future in spite of racist policies that have closed off traditional versions of success. Many watched their parents and grandparents play by the rules, only to sink deeper and deeper into debt. They witnessed their elders fight to escape cycles of oppression for more promising prospects, largely to no avail. Today, in this post-Obama era, they face a critical turning point. Interweaving her own experience, Allen shares surprising stories of hope and ingenuity.
-
-
Great statistics and facts
- By Eve on 05-18-19
By: Reniqua Allen
-
The Formula
- Unlocking the Secrets to Raising Highly Successful Children
- By: Ronald F. Ferguson, Tatsha Robertson
- Narrated by: Cynthia Farrell
- Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The Formula: Unlocking the Secrets to Raising Highly Successful Children, Harvard economist Ronald Ferguson, named in a New York Times profile as the foremost expert on the US educational "achievement gap," along with award-winning journalist Tatsha Robertson, reveal an intriguing blueprint for helping children from all types of backgrounds become successful adults.
-
-
would recommend
- By Marcia on 02-25-20
By: Ronald F. Ferguson, and others
-
The Pact
- Three Young Men Make a Promise and Fulfill a Dream
- By: Drs. Sampson Davis, George Jenkins, Rameck Hunt
- Narrated by: Drs. Sampson Davis, George Jenkins, Rameck Hunt
- Length: 5 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
All too often, we hear about the dangers of male friendships in which peer pressure prevails over common sense. But for George Jenkins, Sampson Davis, and Rameck Hunt, strong and supportive male friendship was a powerful antidote to the temptations and pitfalls of street life. It led three boys to make a vow to be there for one another, to encourage one another every step of the way, until they overcame the odds and became doctors.
-
-
Very Inspirational
- By Heather on 04-10-09
By: Drs. Sampson Davis, and others
-
Radical
- Fighting to Put Students First
- By: Michelle Rhee
- Narrated by: Shannon McManus
- Length: 8 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Part memoir, part manifesto, Radical is this fearless advocate's incisive, intensely personal call-to-arms. Rhee combines the story of her own extraordinary experience with dozens of compelling examples from schools she's worked in and studied-from students from unspeakable home lives who have thrived in the classroom to teachers whose radical methods have produced unprecedented leaps in achievement. Radical chronicles Rhee's awakening to the potential of every child, her rage at the special interests blocking badly-needed change, and her recognition that it will take a grassroots movement to create outstanding public schools.
-
-
Good read after seeing Waiting for Superman
- By Marie on 04-10-13
By: Michelle Rhee
-
Whatever It Takes
- Geoffrey Canada's Quest to Change Harlem and America
- By: Paul Tough
- Narrated by: Ax Norman
- Length: 10 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What would it take?That was the question that Geoffrey Canada found himself asking. What would it take to change the lives of poor children, not one by one, through heroic interventions and occasional miracles, but in big numbers, and in a way that could be replicated nationwide? The question led him to create the Harlem Children's Zone, a 97-block laboratory in central Harlem where he is testing new and sometimes controversial ideas about poverty in America.
-
-
Aboslutely terrific!
- By Anthony on 09-21-10
By: Paul Tough
-
Wait, What?
- And Life's Other Essential Questions
- By: James E. Ryan
- Narrated by: James E. Ryan
- Length: 2 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In his commencement address to the graduating class of 2016, James E. Ryan, dean of the Harvard University Graduate School of Education, offered remarkable advice to the crowd of hopeful men and women eager to make their marks on the world. The key to achieving emotional connections and social progress, he told them, can be found in five essential questions.
-
-
Great For Our Jobs, Our Families, Our Lives!
- By Gillian on 05-18-18
By: James E. Ryan
-
It Was All a Dream
- A New Generation Confronts the Broken Promise to Black America
- By: Reniqua Allen
- Narrated by: Shayna Small
- Length: 12 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Reniqua Allen tells the stories of Black millennials searching for a better future in spite of racist policies that have closed off traditional versions of success. Many watched their parents and grandparents play by the rules, only to sink deeper and deeper into debt. They witnessed their elders fight to escape cycles of oppression for more promising prospects, largely to no avail. Today, in this post-Obama era, they face a critical turning point. Interweaving her own experience, Allen shares surprising stories of hope and ingenuity.
-
-
Great statistics and facts
- By Eve on 05-18-19
By: Reniqua Allen
-
The Formula
- Unlocking the Secrets to Raising Highly Successful Children
- By: Ronald F. Ferguson, Tatsha Robertson
- Narrated by: Cynthia Farrell
- Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The Formula: Unlocking the Secrets to Raising Highly Successful Children, Harvard economist Ronald Ferguson, named in a New York Times profile as the foremost expert on the US educational "achievement gap," along with award-winning journalist Tatsha Robertson, reveal an intriguing blueprint for helping children from all types of backgrounds become successful adults.
-
-
would recommend
- By Marcia on 02-25-20
By: Ronald F. Ferguson, and others
-
The Smartest Kids in the World
- And How They Got That Way
- By: Amanda Ripley
- Narrated by: Kate Reading
- Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How do other countries create "smarter" kids? In a handful of nations, virtually all children are learning to make complex arguments and solve problems they've never seen before. They are learning to think, in other words, and to thrive in the modern economy.What is it like to be a child in the world's new education superpowers? In a global quest to find answers for our own children, author and Time magazine journalist Amanda Ripley follows three Americans embedded in these countries for one year.
-
-
a Wanna-be fiction writer avoids the subject
- By Niall on 11-23-13
By: Amanda Ripley
-
How to Be Black
- By: Baratunde Thurston
- Narrated by: Baratunde Thurston
- Length: 6 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Beyond memoir, this guidebook offers practical advice on everything from "How to Be the Black Friend" to "How to Be the (Next) Black President" to "How to Celebrate Black History Month". This is a humorous, intelligent, and audacious guide that challenges and satirizes the so-called experts, purists, and racists who purport to speak for all Black people. With honest storytelling and biting wit, Baratunde plots a path not just to blackness, but one open to anyone interested in simply "how to be".
-
-
Funny yet insightful!
- By Theodore on 02-15-12
-
Tim Gunn: The Natty Professor
- A Master Class on Mentoring, Motivating and Making It Work!
- By: Tim Gunn, Ada Calhoun
- Narrated by: Tim Gunn
- Length: 5 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tim Gunn, America's favorite reality TV cohost, is known for his kind but firm approach in providing wisdom, guidance, and support to the scores of design hopefuls on Project Runway. Having begun his fashion career as a teacher at Parsons The New School for Design, Tim knows more than a thing or two about mentorship and how to convey invaluable pearls of wisdom in an approachable, accessible manner.
-
-
Life lessons for All
- By Trendy on 03-11-16
By: Tim Gunn, and others
-
Just Like Us
- The True Story of Four Mexican Girls Coming of Age in America
- By: Helen Thorpe
- Narrated by: Paula Christensen
- Length: 15 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Just Like Us tells the story of four high school students whose parents entered this country illegally from Mexico. All four of the girls have grown up in the United States, and all four want to live the American dream, but only two have documents. As the girls attempt to make it into college, they discover that only the legal pair see a clear path forward. A coming-of-age story about girlhood and friendship, as well as the resilience required to transcend poverty, Just Like Us is also a book about identity.
-
-
I wanted to listen but...
- By PurpleSage on 03-22-14
By: Helen Thorpe
-
Oddly Normal
- One Family's Struggle to Help Their Teenage Son Come to Terms with His Sexuality
- By: John Schwartz
- Narrated by: John Schwartz, Joseph Schwartz
- Length: 6 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Three years ago, John Schwartz, a national correspondent for the New York Times, got the call that every parent hopes never to receive: His 13-year-old son, Joe, was in the hospital following a suicide attempt. Mustering the courage to come out to his classmates, Joe had delivered a tirade about homophobic and sexist attitudes that was greeted with unease and confusion by his fellow students. Hours later, he took an overdose of pills.
-
-
The Effect of Parental Caring
- By Wiliam on 01-16-13
By: John Schwartz
-
Unhooked
- How Young Women Pursue Sex, Delay Love, and Lose at Both
- By: Laura Sessions Stepp
- Narrated by: Ellen Archer
- Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Here's an eye-opening examination of the "hookup" culture, seen through the experiences of high-school- and college-age women who confront the hard lessons of dating, love, and sex. Stepp follows three groups of young women and comes away with some disturbing insights. Relationships and romance are seen as messy and time-consuming, and love is postponed or, worse, seen as impossible. Many young women can't handle this, and they're being battered physically and emotionally by the new dating landscape.
-
-
Essential Reading for Parents
- By Elton on 04-19-07
-
To the End of June
- The Intimate Life of American Foster Care
- By: Cris Beam
- Narrated by: Susan Ericksen
- Length: 12 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Who are the children of foster care? What, as a country, do we owe them? Cris Beam, a foster mother herself, spent five years immersed in the world of foster care looking into these questions and tracing firsthand stories. The result is To the End of June, an unforgettable portrait that takes us deep inside the lives of foster children in their search for a stable, loving family. Beam shows us the intricacies of growing up in the system - the back-and-forth with agencies, the rootless shuffling between homes, the emotionally charged tug between foster and birth parents.
-
-
Good dissertation
- By Nim on 03-13-19
By: Cris Beam
-
Common Ground: Exclusive Edition
- By: Justin Trudeau
- Narrated by: Justin Trudeau, Colm Feore
- Length: 8 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Justin Trudeau has spent his life in the public eye. From the moment he was born, the first son of an iconic prime minister and his young wife, Canadians have witnessed the highs and the lows, sharing in his successes and mourning with him during tragic times. But few beyond Justin's closest circle have heard his side of his unique journey. Now, in Common Ground, Justin Trudeau reveals how the events of his life have influenced him and formed the ideals that drive him today.
-
-
Mesmerizing
- By emilia on 05-04-18
By: Justin Trudeau
-
I Wish My Teacher Knew
- How One Question Can Change Everything for Our Kids
- By: Kyle Schwartz
- Narrated by: Allyson Ryan
- Length: 6 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One day, third-grade teacher Kyle Schwartz asked her students to fill in the blank in this sentence: "I wish my teacher knew _____." The results astounded her. Some answers were humorous; others were heartbreaking; all were profoundly moving and enlightening. The results opened her eyes to the need for educators to understand the unique realities their students face in order to create an open, safe, and supportive place in the classroom. When Schwartz shared her experience online, #IWishMyTeacherKnew became an immediate worldwide viral phenomenon.
-
-
Not worth the time
- By James M George on 06-29-20
By: Kyle Schwartz
-
Confucius Never Said
- By: Helen Raleigh
- Narrated by: Helen Raleigh
- Length: 9 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This book is a four-generation family journey from repression and poverty in China to freedom and prosperity in the United States. Their lives overlap with many significant historical events taking....
-
-
Wake up America
- By K and J on 12-14-19
By: Helen Raleigh
-
Ain’t No Makin’ It
- Aspirations and Attainment in a Low-Income Neighborhood
- By: Jay MacLeod
- Narrated by: Christian Rummel
- Length: 20 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This classic text addresses one of the most important issues in modern social theory and policy: how social inequality is reproduced from one generation to the next. With the original 1987 publication of Ain’t No Makin’ It Jay MacLeod brought us to the Clarendon Heights housing project where we met the "Brothers" and the "Hallway Hangers". Their story of poverty, race, and defeatism moved listeners and challenged ethnic stereotypes.
-
-
A Classic Every American Should Read
- By JW on 02-02-19
By: Jay MacLeod
-
Your Turn
- How to Be an Adult
- By: Julie Lythcott-Haims
- Narrated by: Julie Lythcott-Haims
- Length: 20 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What does it mean to be an adult? In the 20th century, psychologists came up with five markers of adulthood: finish your education, get a job, leave home, marry, and have children. Since then, every generation has been held to those same markers. Yet so much has changed about the world and living in it since that sequence was formulated. All of those markers are choices, and they’re all valid, but any one person’s choices along those lines do not make them more or less an adult.
-
-
Not the book that was advertised
- By M. Rogers on 04-13-21
What listeners say about Hold Fast to Dreams
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Daryl
- 07-12-15
Poor narration nearly ruins powerful narrative
How did the narrator detract from the book?
He paused in odd places, especially when moving from quoted text to narrative. His voice was so monotone I couldn't finish a book I very much wanted to.
Any additional comments?
Read this in print; the audiobook isn't worth your money or credit
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful