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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31980.Cross_X?utm_medium=api&amp;utm_source=blog_review" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Cross-X" border="0" src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/photo.goodreads.com/books/1168297832m/31980.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31980.Cross_X?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">Cross-X</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18017.Joe_Miller">Joe Miller</a> 
 <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7770003?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review"><h3>My review</h3></a>
 rating: 4 of 5 stars Underdog stories are seductive, but I tend not to like them, especially when they involve Black youth. Intentionally or not, these stories tend to give the public permission to forego pushing for, or even paying attention to, the need for systemic change. So halfway through reading this book, I got annoyed since it seemed like the same GangstasParadiseFreedomWritersLeanonMe story that makes smart, Black children the exception and not the rule. ("If only you have the right educator who can really reach the kids...") Then I got over myself and finished reading the damn book. 
 
 And the book itself is well done. The story is not at all tidy which I appreciate. It essentially tracks the ups and downs of an excellent urban debate team at Central High School in Kansas City, Missouri. It walks you through the unknown, esoteric world of high school debate, which I had a very different conception of prior to reading this book. (For example, I didn't know that, at the national level, debaters argue at breakneck speed -- very counterintuitive.)
 
 The most instructive section of the book is Part Four, which loosely focuses on how individuals and institutions can begin to change norms within incredibly privileged and exclusive spaces. A few elements needed for this type of change that the book brings forth: persistent, borderline zealots (the author Joe Miller is clearly one of these); public and authentic expressions of truth, both planned (Geoffrey's speech to Montgomery Bell Academy) and spontaneous (Shantel's speech at the Mid-America Cup) that shift momentum; partners on the side of privilege who are willing to communicate the message to communities that the zealots offend or simply cannot reach (MBA); and concrete ideas about what the practical result of inclusion looks like (MBA coach running Central's case at the Nat'l Foresics League final round). 
 
 The cursory focus on the deep-seated gender bias that existed at every level--how the students and coaches virtually ignored the development of girls who debated, how the larger debate community did the same--was disappointing. Miller ultimately pointed to inherent skill as the reason for the disparities, not acknowledging how the drastic differences in attention and support given to the boys played a role. 
 
 At several points, I thought Miller to be a little too involved in the lives of his subjects, but I admired his passion and believe that his conversion experience was real. He embodied, however imperfectly, one of my favorite passages from the book, a quote from philosophy professor Todd May, "Rather than standing above or outside their society, 'specific intellectuals' are immersed within it. They cite, analyze, and engage in struggles not in the name of the oppressed, but alongside them, in solidarity with them." 
 <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/84550?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">View all my reviews.</a>

Kirby's review
rating:
recommended for: nostalgic debaters (e.g., karuna), change agents (e.g., karuna)

Underdog stories are seductive, but I tend not to like them, especially when they involve Black youth. Intentionally or not, these stories tend to give the public permission to forego pushing for, or even paying attention to, the need for systemic change. So halfway through reading this book, I got annoyed since it seemed like the same GangstasParadiseFreedomWritersLeanonMe story that makes smart, Black children the exception and not the rule. ("If only you have the right educator who can really reach the kids...") Then I got over myself and finished reading the damn book.

And the book itself is well done. The story is not at all tidy which I appreciate. It essentially tracks the ups and downs of an excellent urban debate team at Central High School in Kansas City, Missouri. It walks you through the unknown, esoteric world of high school debate, which I had a very different conception of prior to reading this book. (For example, I didn't know that, at the national le...more Underdog stories are seductive, but I tend not to like them, especially when they involve Black youth. Intentionally or not, these stories tend to give the public permission to forego pushing for, or even paying attention to, the need for systemic change. So halfway through reading this book, I got annoyed since it seemed like the same GangstasParadiseFreedomWritersLeanonMe story that makes smart, Black children the exception and not the rule. ("If only you have the right educator who can really reach the kids...") Then I got over myself and finished reading the damn book.

And the book itself is well done. The story is not at all tidy which I appreciate. It essentially tracks the ups and downs of an excellent urban debate team at Central High School in Kansas City, Missouri. It walks you through the unknown, esoteric world of high school debate, which I had a very different conception of prior to reading this book. (For example, I didn't know that, at the national level, debaters argue at breakneck speed -- very counterintuitive.)

The most instructive section of the book is Part Four, which loosely focuses on how individuals and institutions can begin to change norms within incredibly privileged and exclusive spaces. A few elements needed for this type of change that the book brings forth: persistent, borderline zealots (the author Joe Miller is clearly one of these); public and authentic expressions of truth, both planned (Geoffrey's speech to Montgomery Bell Academy) and spontaneous (Shantel's speech at the Mid-America Cup) that shift momentum; partners on the side of privilege who are willing to communicate the message to communities that the zealots offend or simply cannot reach (MBA); and concrete ideas about what the practical result of inclusion looks like (MBA coach running Central's case at the Nat'l Foresics League final round).

The cursory focus on the deep-seated gender bias that existed at every level--how the students and coaches virtually ignored the development of girls who debated, how the larger debate community did the same--was disappointing. Miller ultimately pointed to inherent skill as the reason for the disparities, not acknowledging how the drastic differences in attention and support given to the boys played a role.

At several points, I thought Miller to be a little too involved in the lives of his subjects, but I admired his passion and believe that his conversion experience was real. He embodied, however imperfectly, one of my favorite passages from the book, a quote from philosophy professor Todd May, "Rather than standing above or outside their society, 'specific intellectuals' are immersed within it. They cite, analyze, and engage in struggles not in the name of the oppressed, but alongside them, in solidarity with them." ...less

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