«Cervantes estaría orgulloso de que su novela de hace 400 años esté ayudando a estos extraordinarios chicos y su maestro a comprender sus vidas».  — SALMAN RUSHDIE

«En todos mis años de escritora y profesora universitaria no he visto nunca nada igual». — VALERIA LUISELLI

«Haff retrata lo que la educación en Estados Unidos podría, y quizá debería, ser». — ANDREW SOLOMON

«Todo el mundo debería leer este libro». — CRISTINA HENRíQUEZ

"Empathetic and inspiring account of the imagination, triumphs, and worries of a child of immigrants. A tender, inspiring, and courageous true story."
— Kirkus Reviews

"Sara shares how her experiences and performances have given her the confidence to get past her shyness and speak up about issues important to her community, such as immigration and deportations." — Booklist

"Sarah’s story is a beautiful representation of one young Mexican American girl’s journey to claim her identity. This important book spotlights a community using the arts to break down social borders." — School Library Journal

“In Kid Quixotes, the children of Latino migrants in Bushwick, Brooklyn, carry on Don Quixote’s mission to bring literature to life and rescue the world in the process. Stephen Haff reveals the power of words to heal oneself and a country simultaneously formed by migrants and suspicious of them. Cervantes couldn’t be any prouder.” — Rogelio Miñana, author of La verosimilitud en el Siglo de Oro, head of the Department of Global Studies and Modern Languages, Drexel University

«En todos mis años de escritora y profesora universitaria no he visto nunca nada igual».

"Sara shares how her experiences and performances have given her the confidence to get past her shyness and speak up about issues important to her community, such as immigration and deportations."

«Cervantes estaría orgulloso de que su novela de hace 400 años esté ayudando a estos extraordinarios chicos y su maestro a comprender sus vidas». 

In Kid Quixotes, the children of Latino migrants in Bushwick, Brooklyn, carry on Don Quixote’s mission to bring literature to life and rescue the world in the process. Stephen Haff reveals the power of words to heal oneself and a country simultaneously formed by migrants and suspicious of them. Cervantes couldn’t be any prouder.

«Todo el mundo debería leer este libro».

«Haff retrata lo que la educación en Estados Unidos podría, y quizá debería, ser».

"Sara shares how her experiences and performances have given her the confidence to get past her shyness and speak up about issues important to her community, such as immigration and deportations."

I wept and cheered all through this extraordinary book. There is magic in these pages just as surely as Stephen Haff and his students prove there is magic in the act of telling and, importantly, in the act of listening. Everyone everywhere needs to read this book.

In my years of experience as a writer and as a college professor, I have never seen anything like this: the love for language, the passion for discussion, clarity of mind, and humility of heart. Stephen Haff invents impossible projects and makes them possible.

In lively dialogue both funny and heartbreaking, and a multiplicity of narrative voices, Kid Quixotes allows its characters to tell their own deeply moving stories. This is a book that listens."

Kid Quixotes is alive with humor and heartbreak. It is a great reminder of the resilience of children in the face of adversity. Goliath may have become ruler of the land by spewing hatred toward immigrants, but, true to their namesake, the Kid Quixotes refuse to stand by idle in the face of injustice. Their stories weave into powerful songs echoing with optimism and purpose and resounding with a love that refuses to be silenced.

A necessary antidote to despair and reminder of the immensity of what can be accomplished in a single neighborhood, in a single classroom, and how that can improve us all.

Kid Quixotes is one of the most achingly poignant and genuinely inspiring books I have ever read. Steve Haff ’s clarion call for diversity and inclusion, his emphasis on empathetic listening, and his conviction that classic literature can be urgently relevant to our lives today make his a peerless pedagogy. The story of his brave, creative, and resilient students will win your heart completely; the story of his school should galvanize reforms of our educational system and political policies and remind everyone that any true education must be founded on love.

“Kid Quixotes is an adventure of the human spirit, a glimpse into the genius of immigrant children who overcome circumstances few readers can imagine with courage, heroism, and the love and dedication of a visionary teacher. . . . A riveting, inspiring, and ultimately triumphant ode to the power of education and indomitability of the imagination.

Haff paints a picture of what education in America could and perhaps should be. His story is passionately honest, profoundly open-minded, and suffused with optimism, and his writing is crisp and clear and persuasive.

The one rule at Still Waters in a Storm, the beautiful school at the heart of this beautiful book, is ‘everyone listens to everyone.’ I listened to the many voices telling this necessary story, and I was moved and changed by them.

In a Bushwick storefront classroom, Stephen Haff and his mostly immigrant Kid Quixotes have created a community of joyful learning, resilience, courage, astounding creativity, generosity, and love. Haff is a humble genius and visionary, and this book brings you into that enchanting, truly revolutionary classroom.

Behind a storefront in Bushwick, Stephen Haff is doing the work of angels. The story of his evolution into a teacher making a huge difference in the lives and education of immigrant children is inspiring enough, and the stories of the children themselves are a fascinating tapestry; but the message throughout—that we listen to one another, and respect study and expression—overrides it all. It should be woven into all systems of education. You cannot read this book and go a page without being thoroughly inspired.

The story of the Kid Quixotes is gritty, moving, and inspirational. It is a potent reminder of how powerful gentleness is, how important respectful, sincere attention is—an urgently needed reminder in our time. Stephen Haff is a great teacher who has allowed himself to be taught. This beautiful book shows the reader, among other things, how to learn and to keep learning through careful, gentle attention to people, words, and ideas.

A remarkable demonstration of the actual miracles that can be performed with no resources beyond the determination of an individual and the community that rallies to support him. It’s the most inspiring book I’ve read in a long, long time.

Cervantes would be proud that his 400-year-old novel is helping these extraordinary schoolkids and their impressive teacher make sense of their lives; face their fears; and tell their stories with courage, imagination, and song.