From Myers Education Press--the publisher who brought you such titles as A School with a View, Childhoods, and Student Activism in the Academy--comes a story or rather...a series of stories that are as out of this world as its protagonist. Long before he became a renowned Critical Studies professor at Chapman University, Peter McLaren was just another Toronto native trying to survive in a conservative working-class family. His father fought in WWII while his mother put food on the table, but--like his father--Peter was caught in his own battles dodging abusive teachers and navigating through an academic roller-coaster. Sure, his home life may be ripped from a '50s sitcom on the surface; but his background and the rest of his life from that point on was far from one...or maybe it was. This book chronicles Peter's cross-country climb up the educational ladder as a teacher steeped in the school system, his encounters with various key players in history--from the Black Panthers to Timothy Leary, and everything else in between. Perfect for coursessuch as: History of Education, Race and Ethnic Studies, Sociology of Education,Social Justice and Education, Democracy and Civics, Community Engagement,Policy Studies, and Critical Race Theory.