Hopeful Girls, Troubled Boys: Race and Gender Disparity in Urban Education
Nancy Lopez brings us into the world of Dominican, West Indian, and Haitian American youth as they struggle to fulfill their parents' immigrant dreams while becoming 'American' in the overcrowded schools and on the mean streets of New York City.Hopeful Girls, TroubledBoyscontributes not only to our understanding of education, but also to the changing nature of race and inequality in America today. This is an important book, one the reader will not quickly forget.–Philip Kasinitz, author ofCaribbean New York: Black Immigrants and the Politics of RaceBeautifully written and passionately argued,Hopeful Girls, Troubled Boysis a major contribution to our understanding of education, the experiences of minority and immigrant youth, gender, and poverty. This should be required reading for anyone who wants to understand and improve the state of American urban education and the lives of poor minority youth.–Mary C. Waters, author ofBlack Identities: West Indian Immigrant Dreams and American RealitiesAn intriguing analysis of the day-to-day practices and classroom dynamics that challenges previous educational research linking failure rates to peer, family, or community pressure. If you intend to face, rather than deny, the reality of the gender-race gap in education and the workforce, read this book.–Mary Romero, author ofMaid in the USA: 10th Anniversary EditionLopez's important book, theoretically elegant, methodologically robust, and empirically sound, furthers our understanding of the dynamics at work in one of the most interesting issues of our time. It is a substantial contribution to the sociological study of immigration, and should be read by scholars, policy makers, and the informed public interested in the so-called 'new immigration'.–Marcelo M. Suarez-Orozco, co-editor ofLatinos: Remaking AmericaLopez book provides a realistic and in-depth examination of the life experiences that shape immigrant youth's attitudes about education.  This book will be of great interest to people studying education and inequality.–Contemporary Society