Sex, Death, and the Education of Children

“Silin has created a generous literary register that can comprehend the many languages of life: the language he has learned about the education of young children, language for what he has learned about love and sexuality as a gay man, language for what he has learned about life and death in the age of AIDS….He shows us how we culture ignorance in children and in each other by refusing to hear and respond to what they and we already know.”

—From the Foreword by Madeleine Grumet

“This book is not for the meek, because it talks straight from the heart—and from an educated and serious heart. Argue, disagree, get angry—but don’t ignore what Jonathan Silin is saying.”—Jonathan M. Mann, Harvard School of Public Health

“Will play an important role in the current debate about what the ‘canon’ underlying early childhood education is and what it must be to equitably educate all children in the 21st century.”
—Louise Derman-Sparks, Pacific Oaks College

“Brings together a lifetime of advocacy and action—for children, for human rights, for people with HIV/AIDS, for gay men and lesbians—into a seamless argument for social justice, fairness, and respect for all people.”
—William Ayers, University of Illinois at Chicago

“The importance of Silin’s message for educators cannot be overstated.”
—David M. Halperin, MIT