Stephen Haff is the founder of Still Waters in a Storm, an after-school program serving Spanish-speaking immigrant children in Brooklyn. Previously, he taught English at a public school in Bushwick for nearly a decade. He earned his MFA in theatre at Yale, and has directed plays and taught theatre in New York, Vermont and Canada. He currently lives in Queens with his wife and three children.
“I wept and cheered all through this extraordinary book. There
is magic in these pages just as surely as Stephen Haff and his
students prove there is magic in the act of telling and,
importantly, in the act of listening. Everyone everywhere
needs to read this book.” — Cristina Henríquez, author of The Book
of Unknown Americans
“A remarkable demonstration of the actual miracles that can
be performed with no resources beyond the determination of an
individual and the community that rallies to support him. It’s
the most inspiring book I’ve read in a long, long time.” —
Michael Cunningham, author of The Hours, winner of the
Pulitzer Prize
“Cervantes would be proud that his 400-year-old novel is helping
these extraordinary schoolkids and their impressive teacher make
sense of their lives; face their fears; and tell their stories with
courage, imagination, and song.” — Salman Rushdie, New York Times
bestselling author of Quichotte
“The one rule at Still Waters in a Storm, the beautiful school
at the heart of this beautiful book, is ‘everyone listens to
everyone.’ I listened to the many voices telling this
necessary story, and I was moved and changed by them.” —
Jonathan Safran Foer, New York Times bestselling Author of
Everything is Illuminated
“One of the most achingly poignant and genuinely inspiring
books I have ever read. Steve Haff ’s clarion call
for diversity and inclusion, his emphasis on empathetic
listening, and his conviction that classic literature can be
urgently relevant to our lives today make his a peerless
pedagogy. The story of his brave, creative, and resilient
students will win your heart completely; the story of his
school should galvanize reforms of our educational system and
political policies and remind everyone that any true education
must be founded on love.” — Priscilla Gilman, author of The
Anti-Romantic Child: A Memoir of Unexpected Joy
“In my years of experience as a writer and as a college
professor, I have never seen anything like this: the love for
language, the passion for discussion, clarity of mind, and
humility of heart. Stephen Haff invents impossible projects
and makes them possible.” — Valeria Luiselli, author of Lost
Children Archive
“The story of the Kid Quixotes is gritty, moving, and
inspirational. It is a potent reminder of how powerful
gentleness is, how important respectful, sincere attention
is—an urgently needed reminder in our time. Stephen Haff is a
great teacher who has allowed himself to be taught. This
beautiful book shows the reader, among other things, how to
learn and to keep learning through careful, gentle attention
to people, words, and ideas.” — Mary Gaitskill, author of Bad
Behavior
“Haff paints a picture of what education in America could
and perhaps should be. His story is passionately honest,
profoundly open-minded, and suffused with optimism, and his
writing is crisp and clear and persuasive.” — Andrew Solomon,
National Book Award–winning author of The Noonday Demon: An
Atlas of Depression
“In a Bushwick storefront classroom, Stephen Haff and his
mostly immigrant Kid Quixotes have created a community of
joyful learning, resilience, courage, astounding creativity,
generosity, and love. Haff is a humble genius and
visionary, and this book brings you into that enchanting,
truly revolutionary classroom.” — Francisco Goldman, author of
Say Her Name
“Behind a storefront in Bushwick, Stephen Haff is doing the
work of angels. The story of his evolution into a teacher
making a huge difference in the lives and education of
immigrant children is inspiring enough, and the stories of the
children themselves are a fascinating tapestry; but the
message throughout—that we listen to one another, and respect
study and expression—overrides it all. It should be woven into
all systems of education. You cannot read this book and go a
page without being thoroughly inspired.” — Susan Minot, author
of Monkeys and Evening
“A necessary antidote to despair and reminder of the
immensity of what can be accomplished in a single
neighborhood, in a single classroom, and how that can improve
us all.” — Phil Klay, National Book Award–winning author of
Redeployment
“In lively dialogue both funny and heartbreaking, and a
multiplicity of narrative voices, Kid Quixotes allows its
characters to tell their own deeply moving stories. This is a
book that listens." — George F. Walker, author of Love and
Anger, winner of the Governor General’s Award for Drama
“In Kid Quixotes, the children of Latino migrants in
Bushwick, Brooklyn, carry on Don Quixote’s mission to bring
literature to life and rescue the world in the process.
Stephen Haff reveals the power of words to heal oneself and a
country simultaneously formed by migrants and suspicious of
them. Cervantes couldn’t be any prouder.” — Rogelio Miñana,
author of La verosimilitud en el Siglo de Oro, head of the
Department of Global Studies and Modern Languages, Drexel
University
“Kid Quixotes is an adventure of the human spirit, a glimpse
into the genius of immigrant children who overcome
circumstances few readers can imagine with courage, heroism,
and the love and dedication of a visionary teacher. . . . A
riveting, inspiring, and ultimately triumphant ode to the
power of education and indomitability of the imagination.” —
William Egginton, Johns Hopkins University, author of The Man
Who Invented Fiction: How Cervantes Ushered in the Modern
World
“Kid Quixotes is alive with humor and heartbreak. It is a great
reminder of the resilience of children in the face of
adversity. Goliath may have become ruler of the land by
spewing hatred toward immigrants, but, true to their namesake,
the Kid Quixotes refuse to stand by idle in the face of
injustice. Their stories weave into powerful songs echoing
with optimism and purpose and resounding with a love that
refuses to be silenced.” — Maria Venegas, author of Bulletproof
Vest
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