Urban Schools

Award-winning novelist Tayari Jones delivers a story based on the 1979-1980 Atlanta child murders. Told from the perspective of three fifth-grade classmates, Leaving Atlanta is a vividly disturbing, but hopeful novel.

Alison is a young Drow princess whose power is just beginning to grow inside of her - too bad for the dark forces after her. They won’t see it coming. Even better...Alison’s making a few tween friends who can stand by her side.

In a world where dark faeries have stepped in to save the planet from humanity's mistakes, 17-year-old December Thorne is nothing but a shadow. Shunned by her peers, bullied at school, and paid a little too much attention by her sleazy foster father, she lives in constant fear and perpetual solitude. Until the day everything changes. Offered a scholarship to the prestigious Oberon Academy, December finds herself living in a whole new world.

If it was left to her, Ife Adebola wouldn’t be starting at Nithercott School. Because despite her being in the Urban Achievers scholarship program, her parents can barely afford the tuition. No matter who is trying to be friends with her, like her classmate Bijal, or how much the prestigious boarding school tries to pull her in, Ife is determined not to get caught up in any of it. But when another student, Malika, begins acting strange, Ife can’t help but wonder if there’s more going on at Nithercott than she realizes.

After surviving another face-off with Queen Sebille and discovering the truth about her past, December Thorne's life has changed dramatically. With everyone now knowing and accepting what she truly is, and her new relationship with her mentor, her life takes a turn for the better. She finally has what she's always wanted. But when a new face arrives at Oberon Academy, things go horribly wrong. The newcomer spills secrets best kept under wraps and every bit of the happiness she's fought so hard for is threatened.

December Thorne's life had never been better. Oberon Academy was her home, its students and faculty, her family. With her best friend Shaela and her boyfriend Easton by her side, she felt like nothing could bring her down. Except for one thing - the loss of her mentor. Crispin Jonas took over that role, pushing December to practice things beyond the standard Oberon Academy lessons on being a good Sylphid. His lessons revolved around her other half - her dark side. Devastated after taking a life, December had a choice to make.

The last semester of classes for Sophie Briggs at The School of Roots and Vines is racing to the end. A confrontation and battle with the Serpent, Azdaja, is fast approaching. The legendary Thicket Hall is dying and no matter what the Defenders do, they can only slow the ancient tree's death, not stop it. Could its end lead to a new beginning?

Most kids at the Colorado branch of Mythos Academy know me as Rory Forseti, the daughter of Reaper assassins. Secretly, I'm a member of Team Midgard, a group of students and adults tasked with stopping Covington, the evil leader of the Reapers of Chaos. For me, the mission is a deeply personal one, since Covington is also the man who murdered my parents. When my friends and I get a lead on a powerful artifact that Covington wants to steal, we think we finally have a chance to thwart the Reapers and stop them for good.

Eleven-year-old Jane Grandison, tormented by her stutter, sits in the back seat of a car, letter in hand inviting her to live and study at the Sybil Joines Vocational School for Ghost Speakers & Hearing-Mouth Children. Founded in 1890 by Headmistress Sybil Joines, the school - at first glance - is a sanctuary for children seeking to cure their speech impediments. Inspired by her haunted and tragic childhood, the Headmistress has other ideas.

Most teenagers have to deal with grades, school dances, and curfews. At the School of Necessary Magic, Alison and her crew have school elections, a musical to put on, a tournament in Louper to win while learning how to use their growing magical powers - and a sudden outbreak of werewolves. All before third period and a class on potions.

It’s anything but a calm, quiet semester at the School of Necessary Magic. Dangerous magical criminals are near, and Homeland Security puts the school on alert. Can Raine Campbell finally show her future boss - the FBI - what she can do, or will it all go sideways? The criminals think they can convince Raine and her friends to help them. But Agent Connor has taught her well. Their junior year gets even more challenging when students’ secrets are exposed. Do Raine and friends help their fellow students or turn them in? Should they follow the rules or do what’s right?

Raine Campbell and her friends arrive to team up with another school to tackle the Magical Multitudes Project, ready for a little fun during the school break. But the island is full of secrets and creatures not normally found on Earth. And the island doesn’t stay quiet for long. Earthquakes plague the area, and Raine even thinks she sees other people on the island - people who aren’t supposed to be there. When the students find a dead creature, they finally know for certain - there’s trouble on the island.

When rumors of a black dog roaming campus turn into grisly attacks, Raine must put aside her busy class schedule to investigate and make sure no one else gets hurt.

Sophie Briggs will have to fight her way out this time but without her elemental gift of life. It's the spring semester of Year Two at the famous School of Roots and Vines. The National Elemental Skills Trials are coming up, and Sophie and her friends are called to represent the school in faraway Colorado. Dark forces and powerful, all-too-familiar enemies are out to kidnap Sophie and steal her elemental powers. They'll stop at nothing to get their revenge.

The first semester of sophomore year at the famous School of Roots and Vines has begun for life Elemental Sophie Briggs and her friends. Although Year Two brings a whirlwind of change, some things feel straight out of a not-so-ancient past. Sophie and Marcus become Combat Mentors, giving them more time together. Until Marcus's secret internship makes him miss more and more school. Something strange is happening, and things point directly at the ESCB—and Marcus.

Sophie Briggs has made it to her junior year at the School of Roots and Vines, but it isn't all fun and games for the Defenders. Change is coming. Some good and some . . . not so much. Friends are breaking up—will Sophie have to take sides? Sophie and Marcus are struggling, too. Marcus is pushing Sophie and the rest of the gang away, worried that being a Templeton will put them all at risk. He thinks he needs to do this by himself. Does he have to go it alone?

Jonathan Kozol traveled from the most blighted neighborhoods of Chicago to the urban wreckage of Camden, New Jersey; from the ghetto suburbs of Detroit to inner-city San Antonio; East St. Louis, and Washington, D.C. Everywhere, he discovered separate systems of public schools, with the children of America's poor condemned to schools that are underfunded, understaffed, physically crumbling, and imbued with despair.

Drow Princess Alison Brownstone begins her senior year ready to finally graduate and start her new life, fully trained and ready to kick ass. But still reeling from the attack last semester and the absence of her best friend, Alison is desperate for some kind of distraction to make the days pass quicker. And trouble in paradise with boyfriend Tanner makes it even more vital. When books start disappearing, she can’t resist digging deeper. But going down the rabbit hole leads to truths far more dangerous than petty theft.

As they say, there are a thousand ways to use a knife. If one method isn't working, don't keep doing it. It's time you try another effective method to help students see themselves and the world from a different, much better perspective.

Despite ongoing professional development for urban educators, many inner-city school students are still not performing on high levels or even grade level. This book is a practical guide to helping educators understand the innate difficulties of transferring expertise from the experts, through the teachers, and into the students in a meaningful way that demonstrates student learning.