When Pretty Faces Just Aren’t Enough

Yeoh and Dr Sheikh Muszaphar are not selling cars or soft drinks – we need more than just a pretty face to promote reading. We need reading ambassadors who read, and who are already actively involved in promoting literacy and reading.

Pretty faces aren't enough when it comes to choosing reading ambassadors says Daphne Lee in StarMag, picking up the debate :

The United States has a National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, while Britain has a Children’s Laureate. Both posts acknowledge the importance of encouraging children to read.... An important criterion in the selection of the National Ambassador is his/her “ability to relate to children”. The ambassador must also be able to communicate “well and regularly” with young people. And both positions require respected authors or illustrators.

But before we should even be thinking about such a position, she says, we have to create better access to books, and children should be read to on a daily basis by their teachers. (This is for sure something that helped me to fall in love with books.)

Daphne's Workshops

I told you the other day that I would put up something about Daphne Lee's workshops with Learning Works - here 'tis :

Creative Writing For Kids

Good writing begins with reading.

Successful writers all agree that reading avidly and widely is a vital key to writing well. This course, conducted by children’s literature columnist, writer and editor Daphne Lee, will immerse its participants in the stimulating world of literature through a wide range of fiction, poetry and plays.

Participants will:

• be encouraged to read more critically and analytically.

• learn to discover their authorial voice; how to develop interesting and convincing plots, create believeable characters and build atmosphere.

• be taught about the different narrative perspectives and how to choose the one that works best.

• be introduced to different genres and styles, as well as the use of imagery: metaphors, similes, personification etc

• work on one writing exercise per session, and at least one fully-supported major writing project a year.

New intake commences 6th March 2010

Classes are conducted every Saturday at

3.00-4.00 p.m. for 7-12 year olds

5.00-6.00pm for 13-17 year olds

Cost: RM130 per month

Registration: RM20

Deposit: One month

Venue: Learning Works, 74 Jln BU 11/6, Petaling Jaya

Call Daphne at 016-328 1513 or Eileen at 012-207 2845 or email mylearningworks AT gmail DOT com for more information or to reserve your space.
***

It’s Only Words?: Writing A Picture Book

The term “picture book” might give one the impression that the pictures are the most important part of such a piece of work, but words tell the story in a picture book as much as the pictures do.

So what makes good picture book text?

In this workshop, Daphne Lee explores and discusses the qualities of good picture book writing by drawing on reviews and criticism and by examining classic and contemporary picture book texts. Participants may email in one manuscript each to be evaluated during the workshop.

Suitable for aspiring children’s authors.

Date: 30 Jan 2010

Time: 10.00 a.m.-4.00 p.m. (1 hr break for lunch)

Venue: Learning Works @ 74, Jln BU 11/6, Petaling Jaya

Fee: RM199 per participant

Registration: RM20

Call Daphne at 016-328 1513 or Eileen at 012-207 2845 or email mylearningworks AT gmail DOT com for more information or to reserve your space.

****
Reading Picture Books With Children

By choosing to use picture books at home and in the classroom, parents, caregivers and teachers have the privilege and pleasure of introducing a thoroughly enjoyable and magical route to learning.

Picture books may be used in many ways and in every area of the curriculum, to meet a variety of goals and introduce a wide range of subjects and themes.

As caregivers and teachers, we are only limited in our use of these books by our imagination and the willingness of children to explore situations and worlds both familiar and new.

In this course, Daphne Lee will introduce participants to picture books, ways of turning children on to their magic, as well as how to avoid turning them off.

The course will include practical sessions on how to select books (picture books and others); how to read effectively both in one-on-one and group situations; how to link other activities to your chosen book; and how to conduct a literature circle for young children.

This workshop is suitable for early childhood educators, professional caregivers, volunteers, parents and just about anyone who wishes to share the magic of reading with children.

Date: 27 February 2010

Time: 2.30-5.30 p.m.

Venue: Learning Works @ 74, Jln BU 11/6, Petaling Jaya

Fee: RM150 per participant

Registration: RM20

Class size: 6-20 participants

Call Daphne at 016-328 1513 or Eileen at 012-207 2845 or email mylearningworks AT gmail DOT com for more information or to reserve your space.

****
So, You Want To Write A Children’s Book?

The Malaysian children’s publishing industry is still in its infancy and one of the things it lacks is authors who are passionate about writing children’s literature.

This course, conducted by Daphne Lee, will help aspiring writers of children’s books get started in their chosen field.

The course covers:

• an introduction to children’s literature, including types of books for children

• finding the right genre and subject to write about

• finding your own voice

• creating characters and plots that young readers will enjoy

• how to avoid dumbing down

• writing in vernacular English

• illustrations for children’s books

• what to do once you’ve written your story

This guide to writing and getting published in Malaysia is a six-session course. There will be six weekly two-hour sessions.

Session dates: 20 & 27 February; 6, 13, 20 & 27 March 2010

Time: 10.00 a.m.-12.00 noon

Venue: Learning Works @ 74, Jln BU 11/6, Petaling Jaya

Fee: RM380 per participant

Registration: RM20

Call Daphne at 016-328 1513 or Eileen at 012-207 2845 or email mylearningworks AT gmail DOT com for more information or to reserve your space.

Kids - Make Your Own Book!

Daphne Lee sent me news of a workshop she's running for kids :

Create a story with words and pictures, and then turn your work into a book!

Daphne Lee, children's and YA literature columnist for The Star will conduct a picture book-making workshop for children age seven to 11.

In this three-day course participants will learn the basics of creative writing; story-illustration; and book-making.

This fun and interesting workshop will arm children with skills that they can use to ... turn their own stories into books; make scrapbooks and photo albums; present school reports in an interesting and eye-catching way.

The workshop costs RM199 per participant.

All materials will be provided.

Dates: Two sessions available:

7th-9th December, 2009

or

18th-20th December, 2009

Time: 10am-Noon

Venue: Learning Works, 74 Jln BU 11/6, Petaling Jaya

Course outline:

Day 1: Create a story
Learn how to create an original story with an interesting plot and characters.

Day 2: Illustrate your story
Learn how to create pictures using pencil, paint, collage and other media to complement and add to your story.

Day 3: Make your book
Turn your words and pictures into a book, and create an eye-catching cover for it.

To reserve a place, please contact Daphne at 016-328 1513 or Eileen at 012 207 2845

For more information email dramprojects@gmail.com or call 016-328 1513

Places are limited so sign up now!

*Sigh* Now why do these nice things always have to be for children?

Further Thoughts on ALA's Banned Books Week

This began as a footnote to my post on the American Library Association's Banned Books week and grew into a sound off, so am posting it separately. Worth reading is Mitchell Munsy's piece at The Wall Street Journal*, arguing that calling books banned in the US is "loose language":

... if banned means something like "made dangerous or difficult for the average person to obtain"...

since many of the books in question are best sellers, or the work of acclaimed authors and may be available at other libraries and in bookshops, and of course online. But Colleen Mondor of the Chasing Ray blog who points out just why removing a book from the shelf of a school library actually IS a big deal. We in Malaysia can but sigh of course. Our banned books are very banned and theoretically we could be fined or imprisoned for possessing and distributing them. More books never reach out bookstore shelf because someone thinks they are unsuitable for us. Books from overseas sometimes don't reach us (just ask Leon about trying to get his copies of Granta magazine or Dina trying to get medical books on ovarian cysts!). Ignorant people who would never read Rushdie in a hundred years (probably can't read any novels in English anyway) call for all his books to be banned and scream "Don't step on my sensitivities," in lieu of logical discussion. (Hey, I got sensitivities too as a reader!) Good for the ALA opposing and highlighting every instance where a book is challenged : I doubt if we could even keep up if we were to do this here! And half the time we don't even know how hard it is to obtain a title until we try. My friends, we are the ones more in need of a Banned Books Week than the Americans, and I really wish this event were an international one. Erna recently resurrected the Manuscripts Don't Burn blog from its long slumber and I hope this time it is maintained, as it could be a very useful focal point for discussion about the issue. (I found myself a lone voice on the blog with no-one else contributing and have dropped out of it now for good ... but will fight my fight from here, of course.) Sisters in Islam (SIS) have, of course, their own very important battle to fight. Leave has been granted for Judicial Review and the first hearing will be on 28 Oct. Thank you, Postscript : Just opened my e-mail midway through writing this post and found this message from Daphne Lee - talk about timely!! :

Twenty-sixth September saw the start of Banned Books Week in the States. Held during the last week of September, Banned Books Week highlights the benefits of free and open access to information while drawing attention to the harms of censorship by spotlighting actual or attempted bannings of books across the United States. Here in Malaysia, more than 1500 books have been banned between 1971 and 2009. In terms of children's literature, these include books in the Spongebob Squarepants series, Dora’s Fiesta Adventure ActivePoint Book, Poems & Prayers for Children and Read-Aloud Children’s Classics.** The Dram Projects believes in the freedom to read. We also believe in the right to make informed choices when selecting reading material. TDP will be participating in the Right to Read Festival, presented by Sisters in Islam and The Centre for Independent Journalism. Artist/photographer Wei Meng Foo and Daphne Lee (of TDP) will conduct Free2READ, a workshop that introduces children (9-12) to their rights as readers; celebrates the joy and thrill of discovering the different worlds and experiences that lie between the covers of books; and examines the problems and challenges children might encounter in their reading journeys. The workshop participants will be encouraged to discuss and debate the concept of book-banning; invited to question book-banning and challenging policies; and explore their own feelings and thoughts regarding the practice of restricting children's reading material. This will be followed by a bookcover art session with artist/photographer Wei Meng Foo. During this session participants will be invited to exercise their imaginations and creatiivity to produce book covers that celebrate their rights as readers. Date: 10th October, 2009 Time: 10am-1pm Venue: The Annexe, Central Market, Kuala Lumpur Admission: Free Registration: Call Nazreen at 03-7785 6121 -- The Dram Projects 016-328 1513

*Found via jelundberg on Twitter. ** Ooops- postscript to a postscript - these children's titles were never "banned" (e.g gazetted) but were, for whatever reasons, seized by JPJ officers. If Munsy is accusing ALA of being sloppy with language, we should take care ourselves.

Putting the Fun Back in Reading

There's so much emphasis on literacy these days that I think people have forgotten or overlooked the joy of reading, ie, the simple pleasure of reading or listening to a good story – if they ever knew it in the first place.

Where’s the fun gone? asks Daphne Lee in today's Starmag :

It seems to me that many parents want their children to read but they seem to be interested only in the mechanics of reading. They don’t seem to understand that reading to a child will cultivate a love for stories and books, and this might, in turn, encourage a child to want to learn to read.

Something that I think very much needs saying, but I wonder if parents are prepared to listen?

The Winners Are…

The cover story of Starmag's ReadsMonthly supplement was of course the results of the Popular-The Star Readers’ Choice Awards.

Tan Sri Abdullah Ahmad (left) who edited and compiled Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s Selected Letters to World Leaders talks about how the idea for the winning book came about during a casual meeting with the former PM three years ago. The English edition of the book book has apparently sold more than 15,000 copies, but it hasn't been reviewed in the press at all. There is apparently sufficient material for a second collection.

Robert Raymer, the fiction winner says :

I felt that I had a good chance of being in the top three, and I really thought that either Preeta Samarasan or Tan Twan Eng would win!

He says that in writing his stories :

I always take notes of people I see and hear. For Lovers and Strangers, most of the characters were developed through real people like my ex-wife, my mother-in-law, and an uncle.

(Shall I be nervous next time Robert comes to stay?)

Also in today's Starmag, Daphne Lee writes about books with furry covers!

Sufian Sambal and The Art of BiblioStalking

Although he doesn’t write specifically for adolescents, I think Sufian Abas has the sort of weird and wonderful imagination needed to create the sort of romantic fantasies teenagers would be only too eager to lose themselves in. They would most certainly identify with Sufian’s love-sick characters, his delusional young men and wide-eyed young women, all wandering through a world lit by fluorescent strips and filled with dusty roads, stuffy LRT coaches and gaudy fast food joints. ... It’s a world that smells, sweetly and sharply, of rotting garbage and paint-stripper; a world where ceilings leak and the plumbing is jammed with blood and guts and broken hearts. A horrific world, a romantic world, a world swollen with unrequited love and lost dreams. Just the sort of landscape hyper-sensitive, melodramatic young adults like to pretend they inhabit.

Daphne Lee recommends Sufian Abas' new collection Matanya Teleskop, Hatinya Kapal Dalam Botol Kaca (The Eye is a Telescope, the Heart a Ship in a Glass Bottle)* as a teen-read in Starmag today, and says the stories are (and don't you just love this analogy) :

... delicious – like washing down extra spicy sambal with fizzy Fanta orange.

Abby Wong also writes a very enjoyable column about her bookish family. And how important it is to make sure that a future spouse is bookishly compatible!

(Incidentally, on the topic of judging compatability via the bookshelf, you might like to check out Rands in Repose on the topic of being a bookstalker.)
*Available at Silverfish Books, or email Sufian Abas at dvinecomdy@hotmail.com.

Children's Books Wanted!

From Daphne Lee via Facebook :

Book Haven & The Dram Projects are joining forces to hold a book drive to benefit underprivileged communities.

When: Sunday, 16th August 2009

Where: Meeting Room, Block 150, Villa Flora, Jalan Burhanuddin Helmi, Taman Tun Dr Ismail, 60000 Kuala Lumpur.

Time: 10am-5pm

If you have unused children's books (in English), in excellent condition and suitable for ages 5 to 15, we can give them good homes.

The communities we are helping to build libraries:

1. New Life Care Centre, Port Dickson (a foster-care home)
2. Baitul Izzah Orphanage, Pinngir TTDI
3. Zomi & Zophie (Myanmarese) Refugee Schools
4. Chin (Myanmarese) Refugee School
5. YKPM in Prima Selayang, an NGO for the urban poor.

The Dram Projects will also be fundraising for its reading initiatives by selling 2nd hand and nearly-new books.

If you or your friends wish to donate children's books (towards building libraries) or books for mature readers (for The Dram Projects' sale), please let us know. We can even come to pick the books up.

Jeff Cheah
012-3152778
bookhaven2008@gmail.com
bookhavenlibrary.blogspot.com

Daphne Lee
016-3281513
dramprojects@gmail.com
dramprojects.wordpress.com

The Dram Projects will also be announcing the outcome of its recent RM1-a-Day fundraiser on 16th August.

Daphne's Storytelling Hints

Daphne Lee held a reading-aloud workshop for volunteers who work with young children last weekend and in today's Starmag offers very useful guidelines for sharing a story with children.

Making Ripples

I approach writing much as I would approach the acquiring of any new skill. Learn the basics, check out what the pros do, practise, get some feedback, then go back through the cycle again. Learn more, read some more, write some more, and try to have some fun along the way.

Frank O'Connor shortlisted author Shih-Li Kow talks to Daphne Lee in Starmag about writing her collection Ripples, and about how she writes and gets her ideas.

And I review the book here. The last line of the review has changed, and I intended it to read :

The best pieces in the collection display Kow as an intelligent and subtle short story writer, with a firm grip on her craft. She is an excellent prose stylist, and there’s a musicality in her writing which makes it seems effortless. Ripples confirms her as one of the best writers in the form in the country, and one feels that the book can stand proudly beside its competitors on the Frank O’Connor Short Story Prize shortlist.

Volunteer to Read to Kids

This from Daphne Lee. Dram Projects is looking for volunteers for to read to kids :

1. Rumah Nur Salam
No 24A-B, Jalan Chow Kit
Kuala Lumpur

Work: Storytelling for pre-school and primary level
When: Weekends and/or weekdays
Frequency: At least one hour a week

2. WAO
Petaling Jaya
Work: Storytelling for pre-school and primary level
When: Weekends and weekdays
Frequency: At least one hour a week

3. Burmese refugees
Various locations
Work: Teaching English using storytelling
When: Weekdays
Frequency: At least one hour a week

Guidance and training will be provided.

If you'd like to help, contact Daphne 016-328 1513 or at oneredflower at gmail dot com.

History for Kids

Daphne Lee writes about history books for kids with a local flavour in her Tots to Teens Column in Starmag today.

She writes about Tunku Halim's A Children’s History of Malaysia (which he was kind enough to give me a copy of some time back)and goes on to review his new book The History of Malaysia: A Children’s Encyclopedia which she says she would :

... highly recommend ... to parents, teachers, and librarians as a marvellous reference and teaching tool.

Halim is also profiled in New Man this month*. (Click up to size to view.)


(*Thanks Shirley for sending this to me.)

Postscript :

I must say thanks to Halim for whizzing me a copy of the book within a few hours of blogging this. It is a very handsome book, and since I failed the quizzes at the back of it, I clearly have much to learn!

I like the way the book is written at just the right level for younger readers and could see it being very useful in the classroom (at least in English lessons). And I was intrigued by the non-linear, thematic organisation.

A job well done, Hal!

Writers for Breakfast

Here are three of the short story writers from Urban Odysseys - Daphne Lee, Yusof Martin and Karina Bahrin on NTV7's The Breakfast Show earlier this week.

Romancing the City

Thought you might like to see some photos from the Urban Odysses launch today.

Actor Mano Maniam* gave a very powerful speech about the importance of storytelling and ofcapturing this comparatively young city which is a cross-roads for almost all cultures and religions on the page. He was incredibly encouraging of the writers ...

Here's the mock-up copy of the book he signed ... . Isn't the art work (by Chor Shy Miin) great?

And those writers who could make it. I can't put names to all the faces, I'm afraid, so please help me fill in the blanks someone!

Paul Gnanaselvam is at the far left, Rachel Chan is the lady in red, Daphne Lee is the one with her head on the picture (but who is behind her?), Yusof Martin is the mat salleh guy with the beard, Tan May Lee is at the far right.

I would have loved a speech from Eric and Janet, the two editors, but those guys are incredibly self-effacing! For sure, the collection wouldn't have happened without their determination to get it off the ground, and their hard work in putting it together.

I was a bit sad because afterwards most of the writers seemed to disappear quickly before I had time to chat with them or buy the book to get it signed by them ... Maybe it was my fault for gossiping too long with Daphne, Twan Eng and Lansell in the Book Cafe! (There were so many friends there I hadn't sen for a while ...)

Anyway, if any of the writers read this, I would love to extend an invitation to participate in a future Readings@Seksan. Give'em a nudge would you??

(*Here's a piece by Zahara Othman about Mano's recent performance in London.)

Postscript :

I should definitely link here this post on Eric's blog featuring some of the writers whose stories were chosen.

Volunteers Needed to Bring the Joy of Books

This from Daphne Lee:

In 2009, The Dram Projects is concentrating on bringing the thrill and joy of reading to children who belong to communities that have little or no access to books.

At present TDP is visiting a refugee centre in Setapak, and an orphanage in Taman Tun Dr Ismail.

We would like to extend our reach but in order to do so, we need volunteers who are willing to spend several hours each week (preferably weekdays but weekends too) with children and teens at homes and shelters.

Volunteers are required to read to the children/teens and facilitate discussion groups and art-in-response-to-stories sessions. Training will be provided.

If you're interested in volunteering or just being kept informed of TDP's activities, please put your email address down on the board that is going round.

(For your blog please say that those who are interested can email info@dramprojects.com or find out more here )

Children's Books with a Malaysian Flavour?

Daphne Lee in today's Starmag highlights the dearth of local children's literature that reflects Malaysian society :

... Our children and teenagers are immersed in American and, to a lesser degree, British pop culture. ... This includes the books they read. Currently popular titles (the Twilight series, the Harry Potter books, Eragon, Wicked Lovely) may not be set in this world, and their characters may not even be human, but the cultural traditions used as references in the creation of these worlds and characters are obviously American and European.

She also reckons that writing children's book is somehow:

... looked down upon by Malaysia’s literati ...

who are more interested in trying to win Booker prizes and the like.

this isn't entirely true of course. We had Shirley Lim's Princess Shawl last year, Tinling Choong's Yuyu and the Banyan Tree will be out this year, and Shamini Flint has been writing some really excllent kids books, the latest of which is the highly readable Ten.

But there certainly could be more ... although I think it really can't happen without the active support all the way of the local publishing industry.

Dram Projects - Faces Tough Times, Smiles on

This message from Daphne came via Facebook and I thought I'd share it since I think her work with Dram Projects is so important :

Hello All! The Dram Projects has been facing some financial difficulty, hit as much as anyone by the current financial crisis. Even leaner times are looming but we are soldiering on.

In 2009, we plan to take the library on the road in a small way. We will be making house-calls (once a week) to two community-run shelters, reading to the children there, and lending them books.

We are also participating in a youth fair in January where two of our volunteers, both lawyers, will be speaking on copyright and civil rights.

In February, I'll be sharing at a British Council conference on running reading groups, and using picture books to teach young children.

We're also going to organise a booksale to raise some funds, and are thinking up other ways to keep afloat.

We will keep you informed of other activities as they are confirmed.

Meanwhile, have a Happy Christmas and New Year.

- Daphne Lee

Anonymice Through the Ages

Those of you who frequent the comments on this blog know that we suffer from a surfeit of anonymice and perhaps should bait a few anonymouse traps for them.

But there is actually very long literary tradition of anonymous publication. Daphne Lee in Starmag reviews John Mullan's book Anonymity.

Mullan looks at the reasons for authors not wanting to reveal their identities and how this affected their readers once their real identities were revealed.

Daphne picks out some interesting examples, among them :

Jonathan Swift of Gulliver’s Travels’ fame is said to have been a mischief-maker, hiding his identity so he could enjoy the public’s frank reaction to and opinion of his works. As he was a social satirist, Swift’s books often provoked lively response, and he was not above commenting on his own creations simply to get a reaction from readers.

... Charlotte Brontë was also reluctant to admit that she was Currer Bell, author of Jane Eyre. She was so determined to maintain her anonymity that when, at a dinner party, the novelist W.M. Thackeray addressed her as “Currer Bell”, Brontë said she knew there were books by that person but that she was “Miss Brontë”, and that she saw no connection between the two. And yet, it must have been clear to Brontë that she had been invited to Thackeray’s party only because she was the author of a famous book. ...

There are more reviews of Mullan's book at the Independent, the Sunday Times, and the Observer among others. And I reckon I have to have this.

Reading Room Opens for Business

I'm delighted to hear that Daphne Lee's children's library project is finally off the ground. I went around to see it a few months ago and found that she had created a very pleasant and welcoming space with well stocked shelves, in the midst of a rather run down highrise housing area in PJ Section 17.

And the kids who will benefit are undoubtedly those need it most.

This is the blurb from the Facebook group :

The Dram Projects Reading Room is a place where children can discover, nurture and indulge their love for books and reading. TDP firmly believes that children should be allowed to make their own reading choices and be offered a wide variety of reading material. Taking into consideration the high price of books, our reading room hopes to offer an alternative to public and school libraries, and reading in bookshops.

Comprising over a thousand books (and growing], our collection covers fiction and non-fiction titles, including picture books and reference material. Although the bulk of our books are for children and young adults, we also have a small but good selection of books for mature readers. Aside from providing a place where children are free to choose what they want to read, The Dram Projects Reading Room organises regular reading activities for children and young adults, like storytelling sessions and book groups.

You can find the library at BG-6 Happy Mansions, Jalan 17/13, Petaling Jaya, 46400 Selangor, Malaysia (016-328 1513 info@dramprojects.com)

And do go visit the blog.

Twit for Twat

It seems political correctness is being taken to silly new levels in the UK. First there was children's writer Jacqueline Wilson who decided to remove "an offensive" word from her latest novel My Sister Jodie.

Daphne Lee writes about it in this morning's Starmag but is too polite to tell you that the excised word is "twat" which has now been replaced by "twit".

In a recent interview, Wilson said she didn't know what "twat" meant. Honestly, neither did I! I think most British people use it quite innocently as stronger form of "twit", a nice little insult for a complete idiot. Why can't we all accept that the word has two meanings - one of them vulgar, one of them not?

The woman who complained in my opinion is the twat for not bothering to open a dictionary. If she had looked in the OED she would have seen that there are two distinct meanings of the word.

If you are going to ban "twat" then you should also take the word "pussy" out of children's books next, because (shock! horror!) it doesn't always refer to cats, y'know. And don't get me started on Fun with Dick and Jane!

The other case Britain's biggest exam deciding to pulp a collection of poems by poet Carole Ann Duffy ... because it contained a poem with a reference to a bread knife! By the same token Shakespeare should suffer the same fate, of course, as he has knives and swords all over the place : Duffy gets the last word in, in a rhyming ripost.

I am worried that the UK which I have always considered much more rational in these things is getting as bad as the US, where the smallest complaint gets a book pulled from syllabuses and library shelves.

By the way, on the subject of silly censorship, I read The Freedom Writer's Diary. Didn't find too much in the way of swear words but something there shocked me far more and I wonder whether it was the real reason for the censorship. The book shows just how kids with great potential can be written off as failures in the US education system (and lets not stop there - probably in all education systems). To suggest that teachers have the power to redress things by giving learners a voice is dangerously revolutionary. (The film is showing on Astro later this month.)