Customer Reviews

Whatever It Takes: Geoffrey Canada's Quest to Change Harlem and America

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... and see what life we can make for our children", a quote by Sitting Bull, embraces the philosophy and vision of outstanding educator, reformer, and leader Geoffrey Canada, creator of the Harlem Children's Zone. Part biography, part call to action, "Whatever it Takes" is a transformative book of the highest order, one that challenges, inspires, and calls people to do what's best for our children.

Author Paul Tough writes a compelling and highly readable story of Geoffrey Canada's struggle from social service agency manager to this hugely comprehensive program designed to hold students in a web of great education and accountability until they enter college. Frustrated by seeing too many students who were in need of help and not receiving it, Canada envisioned a dream in which the children would be taken care of, from womb to high school, so that they wouldn't be haggled the by overwhelming needs that often interfered with their development and hence, education. Canada dared to ask the hard what, "What if?", and now, years after asking it, the Harlem Children's Zone is proving it's results.

What's interesting about the book is that Tough doesn't sugar coat anything. The HCZ has had it's ups and down, its issues and celebrations. Canada's philosophical battle with the Promise Academy's first principal Terri Grey, shows the conflicts that arose; two people with the same intentions, disagreeing on the way to go about it. Often, in a book like this, there is a temptation to be upbeat and happy about something new and innovative, probably so as not to give potential critics ammunition to shoot it down. Tough paints its honesty. It's simply refreshing. Dealing with students in poverty comes with no easy answers. The work, however, is some of the most personally rewarding work that anyone can do, and that shines clear through every single page.

Another interesting focus of this book is the role that race plays in our society, and the issues of race that our society is still choosing to ignore. Through Canada's life story, which stems from an inner city urban upbringing, to an almost improbable life as a college student in Maine, Tough echoes challenges people of color have in our still majority white society. Canada lives in both worlds, and has raised kids in both worlds. His ability to see the benefits and challenges in each world makes him effective in his current job.

I devoured this book, and now I'm anxiously awaiting to watch the HCZ over the years, to see the ultimate benefit of their students. Canada and his team has put their minds together ... and now let's see what kind of world his students will have.

"Whatever It Takes" is a very good book with some significant limitations that prevent it from becoming a great book.

The book's strengths include the following:

*** It provides some profiles of the challenges facing individuals in poverty in Harlem.
*** It provides an in-depth description of the workings of the Harlem Children's Zone, focusing in particular on its parenting programs and middle school programs.
*** It provides an interesting profile of Geoffrey Canada, the creator and director of the Harlem Children's Zone, who is certainly a fascinating man who deserves the spotlight.
*** It provides a good and user-friendly summary of the research literatures on the influence of parenting practices on how children do in the short-run and long-run, the disparities in parental environment across socioeconomic classes in the U.S., and how quality preschool programs affect how children fare as adults. It also includes some brief but interesting discussions of the KIPP charter school program.

What are the book's limitations?

*** It never provides a real summary of what Geoffrey Canada's vision would cost if implemented on a large scale. What would it really cost for the nation to provide parenting classes, high quality preschool, longer and high quality school years, and high quality after school programs, for all parents and children who need these services? This omission of cost estimates prevents the debate over the merits of Geoffrey Canada's vision from being fully joined in this book.
*** Geoffrey Canada's vision is that there are large synergies between all these different services: that is, the social return to implementing parenting classes for at risk families, for example, are affected by whether their children also have high quality schools to go to, or high quality preschool. The book does not in any serious way critique the vision of the visionary it is discussing. Yet there is no real evidence either for or against such synergies. Geoffrey Canada might well be right, but he might be wrong. For example, as mentioned in the book, there appear to be high social returns to high-quality preschool even if the children subsequently go to a lousy public school. Do we need to undertake all these programs together, or can they be pursued separately? If they must be pursued together, then this creates much larger logistical and cost barriers to seriously pursuing anti-poverty policies.
*** The book does not include much in-depth description of the pre-K component of the Harlem Children's Zone. The elementary school also receives less attention than the parenting program and the middle school program. However, at least as judged from the book's evidence, the pre-K program and the elementary program components of the Harlem Children's Zone may be more successful than the HCZ's middle school program and parenting program.

Overall, this book is essential reading for anyone who is interesting in anti-poverty policy or urban policy in the U.S. Comprehensive and concentrated anti-poverty policy in urban neighborhoods is certainly an important policy option to consider, and I know of no book that considers this option in as much depth. While one wishes the book had included additional information, what it does provide is a very useful start.

The book is an excellent narrative of an inspired yet incomplete effort to transform urban education in a way that seeks to transform a community. It's a thoughtful description of some of the contending philosophies on poverty and education. It dramatically describes the required flexibility and willingness to change course (sometimes effectively and sometimes not) in developing a new model. It reflects the inevitable tensions between the range of stakeholders that a visionary like Canada must manage. I bought 25 copies for the teaching and management staff at our school on the West Side of Chicago--Austin Polytechnical Academy--and eagerly await the discussion.

Dan Swinney, Center for Labor and Community Research

This afternoon I was sitting in our church's annual meeting where all of the ministries are reviewed for the members of the church. Our church is an urban church, mostly middle class, mostly white. I had just finished reading "Whatever It Takes" last week. I was struck by the similarity between the programs of our church and those put in place by Mr. Canada. We have the early programs for new and continuing moms (and their husbands), nursery school starting at age 2 1/2, preschool, and myrids of programs for youth up through college. (And of course, beyond.) This is a main line protestant church. What is missing for us is the recruiting program to get into the neighborhood and bring in people to the program who don't know of the nearly free approach to learning about parenting and learning from the ground up. I think the challenge for us is to be willing to become passionate about extending the Harlem Children's Zone Concepts we have taken for granted. We who are in charge of the "White Conveyor Belt" must agressively work to include those in our community who wouldn't naturally know of it. Of course, this population is mostly African-American. One could get passionate about the design of the Harlem Children's Zone on the basis of the excellent read provided by the excellent descriptions provide in this book.

Everyone should read this book. I suggest listening to the 30 minute radio story before reading. Search for "This American Life" series from National Public Radio. The episode that contains this story is "Going Big" which aired late September, 2008.

I find it hard to review this book without parroting some of the blurbs on the back cover, from the likes of Bill Clinton and Ira Glass.Paul Tough's exploration of the Harlem Children's Zone and Geoffrey Canada's work reads like an uplifting, thought-provoking novel. This should be required reading for anyone interested in improving the situation in the US around poverty, education, race, and urban policy. Reading this book is particularly important now, as President-Elect Obama has pledged to expand the HCZ model to 20 cities around the country. This is a thoughtful, realistic, in-depth exploration of some of the most risky and effective programs out there.

Amazing story. Thank God for the Geoffrey Canada's of this world. I wish we could duplicate the Harlem Children's Zone all over the world. Thank you Paul for telling the story. Thank you Geoffrey for being the story. Best wishes to all at the HCZ

From an international perspective this is a great book to get a historico-social lowdown on what is happening in the Harlem Childrens zone.

I felt empathetic to the needs and concerns of the students, and also the problems faced by educators both of whom are measured only by systemic standardised tests.

The biggest contribution to educational practice would have to be the holistic 'conveyor belt' paradigm created by Canada in which many programs from birth to maturity contribute to better outcomes for students - rather than herculean and ultimately unsustainable efforts by a few gifted and tireless teachers.

I would have like to see more diagrams about these programs and some analysis (charts) of their contribution or effectiveness. The photos were however great and helped creat a connection between the story and the reader.

Worth a read by all means, provokes important questions and provides some answers.

I read this book in a couple of days which speaks highly for the writing style of Paul Tough and the much needed insights and information of Geoffrey Canada's work in the Harlem Children Zone. I was very inspired by Canada's "never quit but always be willing and courageous enough to make the necessary adjustments for success" attitude.

Tough's long term observations and his incredible outreach to so many stakeholders and experts from Harlem to Harvard produced viable results that all educators of inner city and poor children should ingest. I have given the book to my staff and made it required reading. My work will forever be informed by the brillant insights and practices of the Harlem Children's Zone.

The only mild criticism of the book is the minimum coverage of actual teaching techniques generally used by the faculty of Promise Academy. However, Canada has instituted a professional development program that is available to serious practitioners.

A must read for anyone committed to combatting the barriers of poverty on children and youth development.

This book changed my views on education and gave me hope that we can indeed make a difference for every child.

The book is well-written - thoughtful, well-researched and evenly presented. The combination of recent academic studies with quotes and anecdotes from parents and students is very powerful. It puts a very human face on the issues and the proposed solutions while providing a solid underpinning based on facts. In addition, the inclusion of missteps and disagreements - despite the obvious enthusiasm the author has for Geoffrey Canada and his program - made the claims and assertions in the book that much more credible.

At a high level, much of the book is common sense: read to your children starting at a young age; talk to them instead of hitting them; provide positive reinforcement; put them in an environment where academic achievement is the norm; maintain basic discipline and respect - for yourself and for others.

What is noteworthy is the *comprehensive* nature of the program: pulling all of these themes together, starting at an early age, including the parents and, importantly, reaching out to *all* the eligible students in Harlem - not just the smart ones or those who volunteer.

One other takeaway: this book is not just relevant for poor families in Harlem. The lessons in this book - particularly the proven benefits of reading to your child at an early age and providing alternative discipline methods - are relevant for every family. When I put this book down, I promptly sat with my 9 year-old son and started reading "A Tale of Despereaux." (And I didn't yell at him if his mind wandered at times. :-))