Students love it. It's convinced them that change really is possible and that they as individuals can make a difference. Loeb's stories have a real impact. I'm using this well-written, engaging investigation of ordinary citizens becoming involved in their communities and working for social change in a second semester freshman composition course. I've been using Soul of a Citizen of in my Sociology of Empowerment class ever since it came out.
Students get it, respect it, and are even inspired by it.
Loeb's works serves as an inspiration for students, helping them to connect individual and community, soul and mind, action and results. It helped me to make sense of the world for my students in a hopeful, useful way, and to connect complex ideas to related areas of concern, with a direction for action. I'd recommend this book to anyone interested in helping their students develop a better understanding of the world we are living in today. When faced with perplexing social issues, students, like many of us, often express a 'damned if you do and damned if you don't' attitude, which leads to cynicism and feelings of powerlessness. Loeb uses stories of ordinary citizens such as Rosa Parks to show that one doesn't have to be a 'great' man or woman to have a social impact.