A Voice for Maria Favela

I read this book in two sittings and was enthralled throughout. First, the translation is very fluid—it reads with verve, depth, and fluidity. The translators have captured a voice and rendered it clearly for English readers. The book itself is something of a revelation for critical education or anyone interested in the tradition following Paulo Freire. One of the central questions of Freire’s oeuvre is how does this politically-informed, radically democratic method apply to children and special education methods. Another is the sheer readability of Freire, whose use of theory can sometimes confound readers in teacher education courses. Leal solves both these problems: his text is explicitly methods-based, showing every detail of how he approached his transformative coursework, which will shock and transform educators’ presumptions about pedagogy. It is practical to the extreme while maintaining the same analysis and radical approach of Freire. Finally, it is entoxicatingly readable, vulnerable, and relatable to anyone without technical academic training. * David I. Backer, Associate Professor, Department of Educational Foundations and Policy Studies, West Chester University, USA * A Voice for Maria Favela offers a concrete and inspiring example of how to overcome prejudices over low class community of students: it shows the political and aesthetical educational life that emerges when an educator does not underestimate the creative power of any human being. * Walter Omar Kohan, Professor, State University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil *