The Neighbor's Kid: A Cross-Country Journey in Search of What Education Means to Americans
"Phil Brand's purpose-driven road trip to schools across America has resulted in a book that is both insightful and delightful..."--William A. Fischel, Dartmouth College--From the Back Cover"Philip Brand has made an extraordinary journey...The result of this sojourn is an invaluable, sometimes heart-breaking, treatise on the state of contemporary American schools." Matt Patterson--The Weekly Standard blog"Guggenheim's documentary [Waiting for Superman] is more emotionally and artistically satisfying, but I found Brand's analysis more thought-provoking, and ultimately, more troubling."Mary McConnell--Deseret News"Contains passion,intellectual depth, good planning, and a dash of youth and inexperiencethat reveals at least as much about Americana as [it does] about intellectualjourneys yet to come."John Merrifield--Journal of School Choice“Phil Brand’s purpose-driven road trip to schools across America has resulted  in a book that is both insightful and delightful. His ground-level descriptions  of scores of local schools and their communities illustrate the immense variety  in American education. Brand is well suited for this Tocquevillian adventure. He  is open and curious, and he can change his mind. From his classroom visits,  conversations with educators, and wide-ranging reading he demonstrates the  unwisdom of attempting to impose excessive uniformity on America’s schools.  Brand shows that education is more than passing tests; it’s also about  preserving the fabric of communities.”—William A. Fischel,  Dartmouth College, author ofMaking the Grade: Economic Evolution of  American School Districts