The School Choice Roadmap wins Mom’s Choice Gold Award
The Mom’s Choice Awards has awarded the Mom’s Choice Gold Award for Best Parenting Book to The School Choice Roadmap by Andrew Campanella!
To read more about the award, click here.
To learn more about The School Choice Roadmap, click here.
To learn more about author Andrew Campanella, click here.
Authors Teresa Sorkin and Tullan Holmqvist join Chris Cuomo on SiriumXM
Teresa Sorkin and Tullan Holmqvist sat down with Chris Cuomo on Monday, November 18th to discuss their debut book, The Woman in the Park.
To listen to the interview, click here.
To learn more about the authors, click here for Teresa Sorkin and click here for Tullan Holmqvist.
To learn more about The Woman in the Park, click here.
Virginia Walden Ford’s is the Great American Story
Virginia Walden Ford’s is the great American story, she’s on the right side of it, and it’s dramatically well-told in the new movie Miss Virginia. In the movie, Emmy winner Uzo Aduba plays Ford as she—sick and tired of being treated as if she’s incompetent to choose her own child’s school—rises in righteous rebellion and seizes control of her own affairs again by fighting for school choice in Washington, D.C., in a grand renewal of the American ideal of citizenship.
As also told in her forthcoming autobiography School Choice: A Legacy to Keep, “Miss Virginia” was an already-struggling single mother from a low-income neighborhood who decided to take on yet another struggle—to seek another option for the education of her teen boy. She was highly dissatisfied with the public school he was assigned to attend. She very much feared that he might be on his way to a life of drug dealing and all of that which too often follows. She couldn’t afford the tuition at other, nearby private schools, however.
Overcoming several obstacles, including her own fear of public speaking and the powerful educational establishment, Ford and the D.C. Parents for School Choice group she formed in the late 1990s sought to secure educational opportunity for her child, at another school, of her choosing. It was a story known to Bradley, which supported similar groups in Milwaukee and elsewhere; it helped fund D.C. Parents for School Choice, too.
To read the rest of the article, click here.
To read more about School Choice: A Legacy to Keep, click here.
To read more about Virginia Walden Ford, click here.
AGENCY MANIA NAMED BEST BUSINESS BOOK OF 2019: MARKETING
With each passing year, the universe of marketing and sales continues to expand. Fueled by technology, constant connectivity, and rapidly evolving consumer behavior, the scope of activities and competencies that fall under this category grows. This year’s three best business books on marketing come from three radically different parts of the ecosystem — and each reimagines a core function while expanding the boundaries of the discipline. Whether they are suggesting new ways to consider the customer experience, providing a realistic look at the immense potential of artificial intelligence, or delving into the still-powerful role of agencies, this year’s books bring focus to an industry that increasingly defies easy definition.
At the beginning of one chapter in Agency Mania, author Bruno Gralpois urges the reader to “go ahead and grab a cup of coffee” before plunging into a 40-page treatise on client/agency contracts. And it shouldn’t be a shot of espresso. Agency Mania is not a book that most readers will finish in one gulp; its best use is as a comprehensive manual detailing virtually every aspect of the client/agency relationship, to be kept on the office bookshelf (or iPad) and pulled out (or tapped on) as needed. About to look for a new agency? Read chapter 5, “Assortative Mating and the Sweaty T-Shirt Theory: Conducting a Successful Agency Search.” Trying to figure out an equitable compensation model? Turn to chapter 7, “Just Six Numbers: Determining the Right Agency Compensation.” Quotes interspersed throughout from major advertisers and agencies — Procter & Gamble, Anomaly, Ford — enhance the book’s credibility. Charts and best practices listed at the end of each chapter help break the thick book into digestible chunks.
Many marketing books I’ve read over the years have been inspiring. Many of the treatises and cris de coeur of ad gurus are full of soaring rhetoric and stabs at deeper meaning. Agency Mania is not one of these books. It’s a distinctly unromantic look into the plumbing of marketing. That said, you’re unlikely to find a more essential book if, as is the case for many marketers, your relationship with your agency is the most important one in your work life. Gralpois, a consultant who has championed agency management as a discipline top advertisers need to invest in, leaves no aspect of the client/agency relationship undiscussed. He devotes dense chapters to scoping work and briefing agencies, building effective performance evaluations, and understanding the nuances of that strange place still sometimes referred to as Madison Avenue.
To read the rest of the article, click here.
To learn more about Agency Mania, click here.
To learn more about author Bruno Gralpois, click here.
New Op-Ed from Andrew Campanella: New Data Shows Kids Are Struggling with Reading—How You Can Help
If your child is having a hard time learning to read or you’re worried she might fall behind, the Nation’s Report Card scores released yesterday aren’t great news. An alarming percentage of students in fourth and eighth grades are indeed struggling, according to the 2019 scores.
Nationwide, 35 percent of fourth graders and 34 percent of eighth graders are not proficient in reading, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Equally as disturbing: overall student proficiency in reading has actually declined over the last several years.
In New York City, the proficiency rates are even lower: 24 percent of fourth graders and 26 percent of eighth graders are proficient—both a full percentage point below what they were in 2017.
The response to this worrisome news is predictable. Policy wonks and elected officials are engaging in spirited discussions about how they can change education policy to improve children’s chances at succeeding. There will, almost certainly, be a lot of finger pointing too, identifying what caused these surprising declines and what could have been done to prevent them. These discussions—the ones about how to fix things moving forward, at least—are important.
But most parents, understandably, are not thinking about this from a detached perspective. They are thinking about their own children. Some moms and dads will see the NAEP data and ask themselves if their own children are truly proficient in reading, or if they are quietly falling behind. For some parents who know their children are having a difficult time, the national NAEP scores will only reinforce their concerns.
To continue reading Andrew’s article, click here.
To learn more about Andrew Campanella, click here.
To learn more about School Choice Roadmap, click here.
STORIES OF THE APPALACHIAN TRAIL: A RECOMMENDED BOOK LIST
Thru-hikers and section hikers always have a story about what brought them to the trail. The Appalachian Trail in particular is swarming with folklore, so nearly everyone remembers the first story they heard about the 2,000+ mile footpath that weaves uninterrupted from Georgia to Maine. Sometimes the magic is captivated in a single moment; for others of us, several instances over time bound us closer and closer to the trail.
Personally, I found magic in the words and stories of others. When I read A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson I was intrigued. I thought perhaps one day I’d hike it. But then Jennifer Pharr Davis gave me a story I could really attach too—one that I could see myself in—and I knew it was game over for me. I had to make the trek. For many of life’s greatest endeavors, that’s all it takes: someone’s story to inspire us, blaze a path, and serve as a beacon to guide us.
Because stories are so powerful, below I’ve listed some of the powerful stories that set the stage for my 2020 thru-hike. It’s not all-inclusive, but it contains the books that had the most powerful effects on me and my dreams. Many of you may have already read these stories, but if not, I highly recommend.
Becoming Odyssa by Jennifer Pharr Davis
As a kid you hear so many stories about a young hero (usually a boy) who feels out of place in society, but eventually discovers his strength and turns into the hero he was destined to become (think Hercules, Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer, etc.). Jennifer Pharr Davis is that (s)hero. This story follows her first thru-hiking experience as she “finds” herself—her strength, beauty, confidence, passion, and values. I love this story for how well it captures the trail and for the inspiring way it clearly altered the course of Pharr Davis’ life. A truly wonderful read, especially for young women considering a thru-hike.
To read the rest of the article, click here.
To learn more about Becoming Odyssa, click here.
To learn more about Jennifer Pharr Davis, click here.
UZO ADUBA SAYS ‘MISS VIRGINIA’ CHARACTER SHOWS THE POWER WE ALL HAVE TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE
The depths of a mother’s love is on full display in the new movie “Miss Virginia,” based on the true-life story of Virginia Walden Ford who successfully fought the system to create a private school voucher program for low-income children in Washington, D.C.
Orange is the New Black’s Uzo Aduba, who plays Virginia in the film and delivers a passionate performance, says this is what drew her to the role – the unrelenting love a mother has for her child. In an interview with EURweb’s Lee Bailey, Aduba said she saw examples of this type of love with her own mom and knew this was the role she wanted to play.
“It felt to me like such a love story in a sense when I was reading it,” Aduba explained. “The mother went pretty far for the love of her child and gave everything she had for the love of her child and that’s a story I’m familiar with. I’m a product of immigrants and I had a front row seat to my own mother doing the same for myself and my siblings, pouring all of her love and hope into us so that we could have as many different exposures as we possibly could.”
“I could connect to that idea and that story,” Aduba added.
To read the rest of the article, click here.
To learn more about Virginia Walden Ford, click here.
To learn more about School Choice: A Legacy to Keep, click here.
THE MOVIE MISS VIRGINIA POWERFULLY DRAMATIZES THE URGENT NEED FOR SCHOOL CHOICE
What’s it like to have your life story told on the big screen?
The new movie Miss Virginia is based on the unlikely story of Virginia Walden Ford, who, as a single mother in Washington, D.C., in the early 2000s, fought to create a federally-funded private school voucher program that would allow poor kids—including her son—to escape failing public schools. Against long odds and institutional hostility, she succeeded and is played with fiery passion by Orange Is the New Black‘s Uzo Aduba. Matthew Modine, known for roles in Full Metal Jacket, Weeds, and Stranger Things, co-stars as a sympathetic congressman who helps win congressional authorization for the program.
The movie opens in select theaters and on streaming services on October 18. Go here for more information.
Walden Ford’s own backstory as a student is both harrowing and inspirational. She was among the early waves of black kids that integrated public schools in Little Rock, Arkansas, an experience that informed her actions as a parent. Her memoir of growing up in the segregated South and becoming a major figure in education reform, School Choice: A Legacy To Keep, will be published on November 21.
To read the rest of the article, click here.
To learn more about Virginia Walden Ford, click here.
To learn more about School Choice: A Legacy to Keep, click here.
INTERVIEW WITH REFLECTIONS ON A LIFE IN EXILE AUTHOR J.F. RIORDAN
Lake Effect essayist J.F. Riordan stops by WUWM 89.7 to discuss her newest book and make a plea for peace in public.
To listen to the full episode, click here.
To learn more about J.F. Riordan, click here.
To learn more about Riordan’s newest book, Reflections on a Life in Exile, click here.
Teresa Sorkin and Tullan Holmqvist are the authors of the new novel The Woman in the Park. Sorkin is a television producer and Holmqvist is a writer, investigator, and actor.
Q: How did you come up with the idea for The Woman in the Park, and for your character Sarah?
A: We put ourselves in the mind of a woman who really does not know what is real and what is not and imagined an elegant New York woman who meets a mysterious man in Central Park and gets dragged into something darker.
We both have children and have spent many hours in the park with them and the story grew out of that common experience and observing people. We are both storytellers and observers, Teresa as a writer and producer of TV and film and Tullan as a private investigator and writer with a background in acting, and we both love a character-driven approach to stories.
To read the rest of the Q&A, click here.
For more information about The Woman in the Park, click here.
Today’s a big press day for Beaufort! First, here’s an article I wrote as a guest-blogger for Publishing Perspectives:
Market Crash: How to Publish a Bestseller in 33 Days
And here’s the accompanying conversation about whether ebooks have done away with the need for traditional lead times:
What Can Digital Publishers Learn from Traditional Publishing’s Long Lead Times?
And on a different note, one of Beaufort’s titles (Sherry Jones’s The Jewel of Medina) has been given a nod as one of
Twelve Books Guaranteed to Turn (Almost) Anyone into a Censor
Pick up a copy to celebrate Banned Books Week