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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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."
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.
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.
“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.
You can find the remedy for despair in Bushwick, where, in a bright, inviting storefront, very young students turn their collective backs to the storm and allow the still waters of literature to wash over them. On the day I visited, the students were reading Don Quixote in Spanish and in my English translation and beginning their own collective translation. I was very touched by that. The great novel has never been in better hands.
Still Waters in a Storm is a place full of magic and discovery. As with all the best schools it is a remarkable home as well as a place of escape. Ten-year-old Kimberly told me at Still Waters ‘we read and write and listen in order to understand ourselves and each other’. Here is a place where real free speech exists.
When Stephen Haff walks through your doorway, you may not at first recognize a miracle worker, and perhaps that’s his secret. He listens. He hears the voices of the street and invites them in. Almost removing himself, nearly disappearing, he makes room for others to express themselves and thereby gives them the space to show who they really are.
I had a wonderful, inspiring time at Still Waters. No apathy, no cynicism, no boredom – just a perfectly engaged crowd of kids, thrilled to be writing and discussing writing. It’s a privilege to teach in that situation. No one in that room lacks a good story. All they need is the opportunity to tell it.
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.”
03/01/2020
Still Waters in a Storm, a one-room schoolhouse in Bushwick, Brooklyn, serving Spanish-speaking immigrant children, was a safe space—both for the students who went there after school and for its founder, Haff, a teacher battling bipolar depression. Under Haff's guidance, the students, who ranged in age from five to 17, embarked on a five-year project to translate Miguel de Cervantes's Don Quixote into English and turn it into a musical. Since their language and written skills differed, they had to listen to one another carefully and work together, adopting a version of what psychologist Lev Vygotsky called "scaffolding," or collaborative learning. Despite the threat of ICE agents and deportation, the students persevered, performing their work throughout New York. Haff structures his stirring, poignant narrative much like Don Quixote, incorporating poems, songs, and dialogue; inserting stories within stories; and illustrating that even seemingly disparate tales are connected. VERDICT This is an inspiring account that reminds us that with trust and empathy, there's no limit to what students and teachers can accomplish together.—Jacqueline Snider, Toronto
Stephen Haff's passionate narration adds power to his remarkable audiobook. Haff oversees Still Waters in a Storm, an after-school program in Brooklyn for undocumented students. The program is a place of calm for students whose lives are anything but; many face the threat of deportation and the toxic climate fomented by the current president. Haff's one-room learning space is a haven in the midst of this existence, where students worked on translating and writing a musical version of DON QUIXOTE, a project that infuses the story with the written and spoken words of the students. Haff's voice captures the emotions of his work, propelling this listening experience into something inspirational. S.P.C. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine
Stephen Haff's passionate narration adds power to his remarkable audiobook. Haff oversees Still Waters in a Storm, an after-school program in Brooklyn for undocumented students. The program is a place of calm for students whose lives are anything but; many face the threat of deportation and the toxic climate fomented by the current president. Haff's one-room learning space is a haven in the midst of this existence, where students worked on translating and writing a musical version of DON QUIXOTE, a project that infuses the story with the written and spoken words of the students. Haff's voice captures the emotions of his work, propelling this listening experience into something inspirational. S.P.C. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine
2020-01-12
The story of an after-school program that helps immigrant children adjust to their new American life.
What does reading and translating Don Quixote, published in the early 17th century, have to do with modern-day life for immigrant children in Bushwick, Brooklyn? Quite a lot, according to Haff, a theater director and former high school English teacher, who set up Still Waters in a Storm for children of undocumented immigrants. As he writes, the author chose Cervantes' work because "that book is everything human—it is funny and tragic and beautiful and disgusting and smart and stupid—and because it was written in Spanish, the native language of my students and their families." By reading the quirky tale of a man who never gave up his dreams, Haff's students have found new meaning in their own lives despite the constant fear of deportation amid the current toxic landscape surrounding immigration, an atmosphere inflamed by the current presidential administration. Not only did the students read the book and translate it out loud; they also adapted it into a series of musicals that they wrote. They became Kid Quixotes, acting out their own versions of the story, which they performed in multiple venues. Haff also includes his own story of being an educator suffering from bipolar depression and how this project has positively impacted his life as well. This is a decidedly upbeat book full of compassion and an attentiveness to language, and Haff imparts pertinent lessons regarding truth, hope, thoughtfulness, awareness, friendships, and what it means to be genuine. The narrative also carries the weight of what each child must endure as an immigrant, including racism, distrust, and fear, and shows how they have worked to overcome these obstacles via songs, acting, drawings, and imaginative retellings of their lives.
A kindhearted, engaging story of helping modern immigrant children via a 400-year-old classic text.
