[Children of the Revolution] retraces the [1961 Cuban literacy] campaign with the practiced eye of an educator, and then, startled and passionate, moves on to tell us how the society is building an educational system, how the education is creating society….

Children of the Revolution is as enthusiastic as [Death at an Early Age] was pessimistic, but Kozol is careful to show us that he is not being "set up" with pre-planned visits to model schools. His enthusiasm is a matter of both evidence and tone: when he begins a chapter, "Those who are resolved to find the flaw in Cuba's efforts to eradicate illiteracy (on the supposition that there has to be one)" … we are ready to follow.

Despite his enthusiasm, the book is no simple-minded apologia for Cuba…. For all his admiration for the goals of Cuban education, its politics can create a valuable tension in his...