Hall (DePaul School of Education) takes an in-depth look at the role of school-based mentoring in changing the academic and social fates of minority male youth. The author uses this compact volume particularly to remind America that there is a cultural practice that can sustain minority males' value in society: mentoring. He also indicates that educators, parents, and community leaders can play a definitive role in helping these young men to become valuable members of their respective communities. In order for mentoring to work, educators must be committed to activities such as allowing minority males to express themselves with freedom, and to viewing minority males through their "Learners Everyday Negotiation Strategy." Moreover, they must develop mentoring experiences that help both teachers and students see that they can be both effective learners and leaders. Hall concludes that these relationships provide minority males with the academic and social support needed to realize their potential and dreams. Now it is up to educators and communities to commit further resources to mentoring minority youth. Recommended.

Choice Reviews

Horace Hall is an engaged young teacher/scholar who writes with clarity and authority about his journey toward redemption for both himself and for the young men of color whose lives he touches. This book is a personal odyssey, a practical guide to a positive approach to teaching young men of color, and a plea to America to wake up. Hall reminds us that we are one another's business; we are each other's bond and hope. The water is rising, but there is still time to reach out our hands, and, he argues, we must.

William C. Ayers, distinguished professor of education at the University of Illinois at Chicago and author of Teaching Toward Freedom: Moral Commitment and Ethical Action in the Classroom

Horace Hall is that all-too-rare academic writer: someone who not only can talk the talk, but has walked the walk as well. His personal experiences as a mentor to African American and Latino young men illuminate this wise and important book, which combines a damning critique of society's vilification of males of color with a thoughtful, practical re-imagining of traditional notions of youth mentoring.

Gregory Michie, author of See You When We Get There: Teaching for Change in Urban Schools

Those who are looking for practical and insightful strategies for mentoring young men of color will find this book an invaluable and powerful resource.

Pedro A. Noguera Ph.D, distinguished professor of education UCLA Graduate School of Education & Information Studies

Horace Hall brings to light in Mentoring Young Men of Color that our boys need mentoring, nurturance, love, and direction not suspension, expulsion, zero tolerance, and prison. I strongly suggest you read this important book.

Jawanza Kunjufu, author of Keeping Black Boys Out of Special Education