And Still We Rise: The Trials and Triumphs of Twelve Gifted Inner-City High School Students

Author and journalist Miles Corwin spent an entire school year with a remarkable group of individuals: the students in the senior Advanced Placement English class at Crenshaw High School—young ghetto scholars who have managed to excel despite living in the hostile world of South Central Los Angeles. This book is a moving chronicle of their courage, acheivements, strength, and resilient spirit—their personal crises, setbacks, catastrophes, and triumphs—over an unforgettable 10 month period. It is a fascinating visit to the dynamic, electrically charged classroom of Toni Little, an inspiring but volatile and wildly unpredictable white educator determined to imbue her minority students with a passion for great literature. Corwin also spent the year with Anita "Mama" Moultrie, a flamboyant black teacher whose Afrocentric teaching style was diametrically opposed to Little's traditional approach. The exceptional students provide a ground-zero perspective on the affirmative action debate and will remain with the readers long after they finish the book.

About the Author:

A native of Los Angeles, Miles Corwin is an award-winning reporter for the Los Angeles Times and the author of the critically acclaimed The Killing Season, a national bestseller. He lives with his family outside Los Angeles, California