"Using her own experience of exploring her family’s immigration history, renowned educator Christine Sleeter has crafted a captivating story that weaves together interrelated themes: investigating family histories, teaching children of diverse backgrounds, and forging personal relationships across lines of race and culture. After reading this engaging novel, readers may be motivated to delve into their own family histories and, along the way, to reflect on what it means to be an American in our complex, multicultural and multilingual nation."—Sonia Nieto, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, author of What Keeps Teachers Going? "This is a provocative and moving story about how coming to know oneself, including one’s own family history, can lay the foundation for acting in solidarity with others. Addressing the complex topics of teaching, identity and community, White Bread will serve as a valuable resource for pre-service and practicing teachers, as well as for teacher educators. In fact, I can’t wait to use it in my own courses that aim to advance learning about the challenges and joys of teaching in today’s increasingly diverse schools. I highly recommend this book!"—Jamy Stillman, University of Southern California "Sleeter imaginatively engages family history as a tool of critical collective reflection, recovering community cultural wealth as a matter of urgency in our classrooms and beyond."—Tara J. Yosso, University of California Santa Barbara, author of Critical Race Counterstories along the Chicana/Chicano Educational Pipeline "With White Bread, Sleeter artfully explores the challenging topics of race, culture, history and identity critical to the success of white teachers in multicultural settings. That she manages to do this in a page-turning, multigenerational novel complete with mystery and romance makes this a must-read not just for teachers, but for everyone."—Breem Picower, Montclair State University, author of Practice What You Teach "Refreshingly innovative, creatively telling, and heart-wrenchingly intelligent, White Bread not only captures the everyday minutiae of teaching in culturally diverse U. S. classrooms, it also documents the emotional, psychological, and spiritual transformation one undergoes when self-investing in racial justice. Through the humanistic characterization of Jessica, a white, middle class school teacher, Sleeter provides a concrete answer to how the historical nuances of white privilege influence identity, society, and, in particular, education. A must read for the almost 90% white teaching force in the United States!"—Cheryl Matias, University of Colorado Denver "Jessica’s questions, her history, and the situations she finds herself in enable the reader to reflect on the challenges many of us find in the classroom and in our lives on a daily basis. Thoughtful, engaging, compassionate and reflective, White Bread is one of those books that’s easy to read, and go back to, again and again."—William G. Tierney, University of Southern California, author of Academic Affairs: A Love Story "In White Bread, Christine Sleeter has woven together a wonderful narrative of life in America, one that includes multiple layers of identity, ever-shifting and forever shaping the deeply entrenched experiences of everyone. The book seamlessly floats back and forth between a time more than a century ago that was not fully documented, and aimed to assimilate a white German past, and a contemporary time in which Mexican-Americans are facing similar concerns. The narrative and characters are delightful, real and compelling. This very thoughtful book presents an engaging vision of social justice. I very much enjoyed reading it."—Paul R. Carr, Université du Québec en Outaouais, author of Revisiting the Great White North? "White Bread tells a wonderful story of how a young, white, novice teacher comes to critical consciousness around issues of race as she studies her own family history and learns to connect with her Mexican American students. White Breadshould be read by everybody, but especially teachers and teacher educators as they work to transform their practices to reach our increasingly diverse student populations. In particular I think White Bread has the power to help white teachers explore their own identities and better understand how legacies of racism and oppression impact communities of color."—Wayne Au, University of Washington Bothell, author of Pencils Down! "Christine Sleeter's books are a must read for all educators. The books encourage readers to grapple with key issues surrounding education, including what it means to create humanizing schools and classrooms, challenge problematic Eurocentric narratives, and learn and teach in ways that advance justice and democracy." ~ The SoJo Journal
