Title: Fighting Prosaic Messages: A Portrait of Family Literacies with Critical Essays on the Causes of School Failure
Author: Henry C. Amoroso Jr.
Publisher: Page Solutions
ISBN: 979-8896330387
Pages: 700
Genre: History of Education
Reviewer: Anthony Avina
Pacific Book Review
At the heart of any great society, people will often find a fundamental path which almost everyone who classifies themselves as part of a “civilized” society claims to be a part of, and that is the path of education. For many, standard education practices up through high school or its equivalent is as far as people will go, while others strive for further education in colleges or universities, aiming for specific degrees in their preferred field. Yet the question has always remained, how does society truly function at its best in the education field? Are there different ways of learning, or is there only one true and tried path forward?
These are the questions that author Henry C. Amoroso Jr. explores in the book, Fighting Prosaic Messages: A Portrait of Family Literacies with Critical Essays on the Causes of School Failure. The book reads a part historical fiction, part memoir, and part educational non-fiction, giving readers a glimpse into the author’s family tree and several generations of different styles of students that have emerged. Using his grandmother’s experience to tell a story, the author is able to explore how the education system as it exists doesn’t always cater to individual students but generalizes failing to take into account the different ways in which students learn and so much more.
Amazed and instantly engaged are the words that come to mind when delving into this book. The author and his family have brought together a comprehensive, complex and thought-provoking book which explores everything that is vital and important to the discussion of the education system. The balance the author found in narrative storytelling, personal experience, and powerful and moving insight into the practices and history surrounding education and illiteracy was remarkable to see come to life on the page. The harsh realities of how the education system has evolved and yet failed are not lost on the reader as both the story and the real-world events coincide with one another, as history showcases how only the elite or few were given the chance to learn to read and write, and those who didn’t were made to feel less than, while more modern educational systems see the thirst for knowledge and zeal for learning within students as mundane and the bare minimum, rarely ever encouraging such behavior.
Readers who enjoy both fiction and non-fiction driven books, finding a cohesion that includes historical fiction, memoir style storytelling, and essays and introspective looks on the education system will instantly be drawn into this book. The ways in which the author was able to tap into the emotional experiences of his grandmother, father, himself and his son throughout the story portion of the book was incredible and vivid in imagery, while the non-fiction storytelling allowed for a sense of relatability that readers both within and outside of the education system can appreciate and learn from. Thoughtful in its delivery and well-researched, this was a phenomenal book readers will return to time and time again. Fighting Prosaic Messages is a book for teachers, social workers, and school leaders ready to rethink the very foundations of literacy and learning.
