On This Ground - by Anthony Depalma (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

The remarkable story of hope, determination, and resilience at a celebrated school in Newark, New Jersey, the students who thrive there, and a community that refused to let its children's education become a casualty of a growing racial divide.

In 1967, as the city of Newark, New Jersey, was engulfed by civil unrest after the beating of a Black cab driver by white police officers, the monks of Newark Abbey stood on the roof of the monastery and watched their city burn. In the years that followed, as crushing poverty and racial tensions in the city worsened, some of the monks voted to leave--and St. Benedict's Prep, the school they had run for over a century, was forced to close its doors.

On This Ground is the story of the monks who voted to stay put, who would soon reopen St. Benedict's and devote their lives to educating the students who had become their neighbors. But it's also the inspiring story of its students--many of whom have experienced tremendous tragedy and trauma--who show up every day and form the beating heart of the school, which is now widely considered one of the most successful inner-city educational movements in the country.

In a warm, reverent voice, veteran New York Times reporter and New Jersey native Anthony DePalma takes us through St. Benedict's hallways, classrooms, and the streets of the complicated city of Newark to illuminate the astonishing ability to alter your own destiny, and how ultimately triumphant life can be, despite the trials, when leaders keep their promises and kids who are usually rejected are given the love they deserve.

Review Quotes

"Among Anthony DePalma's many gifts and talents is his ability to escort readers beyond the gates of places that would otherwise be off-limits, so they might bear particular witness to the resilience of the human spirit. In On This Ground, he invites us into St. Benedict's Prep, where 'an inimitable gang of downtown monks' draws on centuries-old sacred texts--as well as lessons harvested from as far afield as the U.S. military, the experimental education movement, and Outward Bound--to give teenagers from one of our nation's most scarred cities the tools, tough love, and tenacity to triumph." - Jacques Steinberg, former New York Times education correspondent and New York Times bestselling author of The Gatekeepers
"In a moment when urban high schools are faltering and Catholic ones are closing by the dozens, Anthony DePalma has a different story to tell--a lively, complex, surprising, provocative story. What sets St. Benedict's Prep apart? It's not the black hoodies, the jug, the Velvet Rope, the vulnerability chair, the dread-inducing rites of initiation, or the Rule of St. Benedict. Read this book and find out." - Paul Elie, author of The Last Supper
"The resurrection of St. Benedict's Preparatory School in Newark was a courageous rebuttal to the white flight and financial disinvestment that followed the city's 1967 racial uprisings. In Anthony DePalma's hands it becomes a gripping and revelatory narrative about what it takes to educate generations of children who were left behind, making their way against enormous odds. The heroes are educators, students and an inimitable headmaster who for 50 years has rejected a rising clamor for high test scores in favor of 'a school that tends to the heart as well as the mind.'" - Dale Russakoff, bestselling author of The Prize
"On This Ground isn't another story of resilience and achievement despite the odds in a tough American city. What DePalma gives us is a lesson in community and how--when done correctly with intention and love--it has the power to affirm, heal, and transform lives." - Bryan Mealer, bestselling author of The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (with William Kamkwamba)

"A love letter to an inner-city Catholic high school, full of praise for faith and rigor."

- Kirkus Reviews