Reviews of the bestselling Not Light, But Fire (2018) Throughout his book, Kay emphasizes that preparing for and holding challenging class conversation about race is not quick work, and that his approach is not a cookie-cutter template. “Teachers,” he writes in his first chapter, are “some of the most creative people on earth” who should adapt his strategies to their needs. Kay nonetheless offers a compelling method for teachers at any level of education to help students talk productively with one another about race and racism in the classroom. — Jenn Dunlavy, Boston University Taking this book seriously – which it demands with its topical and pedagogical weight – requires acknowledging just how many less-than-ideal practices even the most well-intentioned English and social studies teachers (i.e., me and maybe you too) use to elicit intense discussions from their students. - Sarah Cooper, Middleweb He lays out practical strategies and tools for how to build a healthy community inside the classroom with contexts and connections to wider school culture. Then, he exemplifies the tools in action with case studies from his own classroom, including all of the ways in which he has messed up, as well as how and why (his encouragement of teachers to examine our own egos is crucial and refreshing). He is frank that messing up is part of the game, and though we hope to get better and mess up less over time, we must accept and confront failure.If you are a teacher or leader at any point in your career who wants to hone your skills in creating a powerful classroom community, one that can hold meaningful conversations safely and build ideas together, Kay has plenty to offer you. - Kelli Powling, The International Educator You get a sense that, if you asked Kay to swing at you, he’d take a few minutes to explain why he was going to swing at you with a full-knuckle fist, then do exactly that..We should be so fortunate, too. — Jose Vilson, Author of This is Not a Test (2014) “As he says in the title, and in the introduction that explains it, we are past the point of shedding light on difficult topics — we need fire to make a change.” - Andrea Clark, Middleweb