A sequel to the classic Fires in the Bathroom that illuminates what
adolescents most need from teachers in today's upsetting times
The context in which adolescents are learning has shifted radically
since students first offered blunt advice to high school teachers in the
groundbreaking Fires in the Bathroom, a perennial bestseller. Now
their world is changing at warp speed, and classrooms too are seething
with anxiety. This sequel raises the voices of diverse youth around the
nation as they live through the mind-bending quandaries of this era and
ask their teachers to notice.
In Fires in Our Lives, Kathleen Cushman and her co-authors Kristien
Zenkov and Meagan Call-Cummings (both leaders in bringing student voices
to teacher education) present new first-person testimony on how today's
youth experience the risks and challenges of high school. The students
who speak here need their teachers more than ever as they navigate
cultural, social, and political borders in their communities. Reinforced
by classroom examples and supplemented with helpful takeaways, Fires in
Our Lives offers a compelling dialogue about students' emotions, ideas,
and developing agency.
In a world that sorely needs the thoughtful participation of its rising
generation, this new staple belongs on every high school teacher's
bookshelf.
