nOne of the most important books on education to come along in years. -- New York Times Book Review n A New York Times Notable Book - A Best Book of the Year, the Washington Post, the Atlantic, The New Yorker, and Publishers Weekly - A Best History Book of 2015, Amazon - Finalist for the J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize - Finalist for the Bernstein Award - Winner of the New Jersey Studies Academic Alliance Authors Award n n Impeccably researched . . . Russakoff pulls readers in with richly drawn real-world characters. -- Atlantic n n Stunning . . . Russakoffs narrative is rich with details and anecdotes that showcase the quality of her writing and bring Newark to life. -- Chicago Tribune n n When Mark Zuckerberg announced his $100 million pledge to transform the Newark schools and create an education model that could be applied to any city in the nation, it looked like a huge win for New Jersey politicians Cory Booker and Chris Christie. But their plan met the opposition of Newarks key education players, who were fiercely protective of their billion-dollar-a-year system -- a prize that, for generations, had enriched seemingly everyone, except Newarks students. With deeply drawn portraits of everyone from the philanthropists throwing millions at a haphazard plan, to the teachers fighting to reach students damaged by extreme poverty and violence, The Prize is a riveting account of the complexities and challenges that face all of Americas failing schools. n n Russakoff provides insights that should prove useful both to contemporary school reformers and to citizens hoping to understand their efforts. -- Washington Post n n A moving and thought-provoking book . . . Invaluable. -- New York Timesn