In "The Power in the Room" Jay Gillen uses his experence in the Baltimore Algebra
project (BAP) to discus youth organization, employment and empowerment are the keys to ending the cycles of violence and poverty. His emphasize on peers and community are clear and logical. Here are challenging ideas that bring teens, money and the often heavy handed government togethor.

This is one of the best books that I have read this year. It looks at the effects of racism both locally and society-wide. In addition, it shows how the promise of education as currently practiced in the United States fails to realize the promise of eradiating racism and poverty by strengthening the oppressive structures already in place. It does this by looking at how the author's experience with local youth organizing and employment is able to provide both an education and a real-time benefits (for example, paying jobs, nutrition, and shelter).
This book is one of the worst books I have read this year. By providing a grand narrative to explain various problems within American society, the author seems to gloss over conflicting or contradictory data and experience. This book would have been strengthened by acknowledging that different paths might lead to the same outcome. In addition, I do not believe that he deals with certain political realities that would derail his ideas. ( )

A good book for young people, but a little too simple for me. Still, the advice offered was sound, and the language was enthusiastic enough to inspire apathetic teens to make a difference in the world. ( )

Jay Gillen is a math teacher in Baltimore and served as an early advisor for the Baltimore Algebra Project (BAP), a paid peer to peer tutoring network.

This book is framed by the founding and lifespan to date of BAP and how it can be copied to other school districts worldwide. Gillen describes BAP and how it has been used to date in Baltimore and then transitions to use BAP as a call to action by using examples seen firsthand while teaching in Baltimore Public Schools.

Interspersed with this narrative of BAP is a deep dive into sociology and modern structural racism. The book quickly becomes incredibly erudite with use of terms such as "dominant form" and "code switching". This can feel overbearing at times, and frequently bogs down an already lean book.

I felt the most-needed and sadly neglected part of this book was a desire to read more about Gillen's personal story. I think this could have made the book much more rewarding as it would have made his triumphs and struggles more interesting. He has clearly thought deeply about the impact that programs such as BAP could have in other communities, but how did he develop these thoughts? I feel like this could be an interesting aspect to look more into and would make the book much more relatable.

As a whole, these three main themes come together nicely for a compelling read about how to better enable youth development and education outside of the traditional educational model. However, as a non-educator myself, its easy to think "well I am not a high school teacher, what can I possibly do?". ( )