The stories in Peter Smith's new book show resilient people overcoming obstacles, and it might be tempting to describe them as fulfilling the American myth of pulling themselves up by their bootstraps. “They are the heroes in a sad saga where millions of other people are unable to navigate the pathway to opportunity,” he writes in the conclusion to his book, describing the students he spoke with. “As a society, we need these stories to become mainstream reality, not exceptions to the rules. And we need these ‘stories from the underground’ to become part of the public consciousness when it comes to respecting and validating personal learning and work experience.”
