How is it that, half a century after Brown v. Board of Education, educational opportunities remain so unequal for black and white students, not to mention poor and wealthy ones?
In his important new book, Five Miles Away, A World Apart, James E. Ryan answers this question by tracing the fortunes of two schools in Richmond, Virginia-one in the city and the other in the suburbs. Ryan shows how court rulings in the 1970s, limiting the scope of desegregation, laid the groundwork for the sharp disparities between urban and suburban public schools that persist to this day. The Supreme Court, in accord with the wishes of the Nixon administration, allowed the suburbs to lock nonresidents out of their school systems. City schools, whose student bodies were becoming increasingly poor and black, simply received more funding, a measure that has proven largely ineffective, while the independence (and superiority) of suburban schools remained sacrosanct. Weaving together court opinions, social science research, and compelling interviews with students, teachers, and principals, Ryan explains why all the major education reforms since the 1970s have failed to bridge the gap between urban and suburban schools and have unintentionally entrenched segregation by race and class.

Joining the ranks of Tina Seelig’s What I Wish I Knew When I Was 20, Clayton Christensen’s How Will You Measure Your Life, Mary Karr’s Now Go Out There, and George Saunders’ Congratulations, By the Way comes an insightful guide that reveals the secret to pursuing a rich, fulfilling life: the art of asking (and answering) good questions.

In his commencement address to the graduating class of 2016, James E. Ryan, dean of the Harvard University Graduate School of Education, offered remarkable advice to the crowd of hopeful men and women eager to make their mark on the world. The key to achieving emotional connections and social progress he told them, can be found in five essential questions:

• Wait, what?
• I wonder if . . .
• Couldn’t we at least?
• How can I help?
• What truly matters?

“Wait, what?” is at the root of all understanding. “I wonder” is at the heart of all curiosity. “Couldn’t we at least?” is the beginning of all progress. “How can I help?” is the basis of all good relationships. And “what truly matters?” gets you to the heart of life. By regularly asking these questions, Ryan promises, you will be prepared to enthusiastically answer “Yes” to one final–and, ultimately, most important–question: “And did you get what you wanted out of life, even so?”

In this thoughtful, illuminating book, Ryan builds upon his wildly popular and universally praised address which has been viewed more than four million times online. Wait, What? offers further insights into the art of asking good questions, highlighted by hilarious and surprising anecdotes from Ryan’s personal and professional life, as well as stories from politics, popular culture, and social movements throughout history.

Engaging and inspiring, Wait, What? will change the way you look at yourself and the world, and, in the process, help you get what you want most out of life.