The world portrayed in Tough Fronts is real, vivid, and important to urban education... has much useful material and raisese important questions. -- Anthropology and Education Quarterly
L. Janelle Dance explodes right-wing and liberal racial mythologies while illuminating the practices of caring teachers and others who offer support in difficult times. This is a rare book filled with insight, compassion, and courage. Buy it, read it, and pass it on to everyone who still believes in racial justice and the possibilities of a substantive democracy. -- Henry A. Giroux, author of Public Spaces, Private Lives
Tough Fronts has the capacity to transform the fundamental ways educators look at children of color inside and outside of schools. And, just as importantly, it restores agency to black youth by demonstrating the creative and strategic activity they engage in to make their ways in the unequal world they inhabit. -- Michael W. Apple, author of Educating the Right Way
Young people spend more time out of school than in school, and for many, the time they spend outside of school is far more influential on their development. Tough Fronts provides us with a window into kids lives out of school. These are kids who are too quickly labeled 'at-risk', delinquent or incorrigible in schools. Through the window Dance has created we are able to see these young people as more complete individuals and gain a glimpse of their humanity and their potential. For those of us who've grown tired of hearing young people get blamed for problems they did not create, this book will provide useful insights and a basis for hope in the next generation. -- Pedro Noguera, Harvard Graduate School of Education
A professor of sociology draws on her ethnographic research in Boston to create a portrait of the lives, both in the classroom and on the streets, of inner-city students who are deemed at risk for failing in school. -- Education Week
High dropout rates, expulsions, and suspensions. What causes these problems in urban schools, and what are the solutions? The experts have had their say. Now let's turn to the kids. -- American School Board Journal
This book provides a detailed picture of at-risk students' lives, both in classrooms and on the streets. -- District Administration
Tough Fronts by L. Janelle Dance is a welcome addition to the literature that examines youth culture and its relationship to schooling and society. -- Teachers College Record
...Dance's qualitative lens enriches the literature regarding facilitation of resiliency of at-risk students. Portions of Tough Fronts, if not the entire book, would be a valuable resource for teacher training programs and current educators, whether just beginning or seasoned in the profession.--Pam Guess, Education Review, December 2009
