Measure of Our Success

To help parents chart a course for their children based on traditional values--self-reliance, family, hard work, justice, the pursuit of knowledge and of brotherhood--Edelman, founder and president of the Childrens Defense Fund, effectively recounts her experience and vision in essays variously addressed to her own children, to all children and to parents. Edelman, who grew up in the segregated South and was the first black woman admitted to the Mississippi bar, recalls the community of her childhood where one child's accomplishments gave joy to all, where neighbors took care of each other and where parents instilled a sense of responsibility in their offspring. In the introduction the author's son Jonah examines the value and pressure of being raised by an African American mother and a Jewish father. 40,000 first printing; $40,000 ad/promo; author tour. (May)