. >>> it is my sincere honor to introduce amanda ripley. the first time the book festival has had a formal science pavilion, and it's completely fitting the first book we're discussing here is devoted to education and to competing visions of how children learn. amanda's book, "the part e kid thursday in the world" takes us to finland, south korea, and pole poll loaned, and observes how three educational systems work, and she does it through the eyes of three american kids who are spending a year at each of those school systems. so it makes for a unique combination of her analysis and the insights that the high school kids provide. we're doing the book in the "washington post." jay matthews wrote it's the most illuminates report on the difference between schools in america and those abroad. and "the new york times" said amanda ripley gets well beneath the glossy surface of foreign cultures and makes our culture look strangely new, and as they dad of a first grader, the conclusions have insights for kids of all ages and for the parents. amman

it is my sincere honor to introduce amanda ripley. this is the first time the book festival had a science pavilion and it's i think completely fitting that the first book we are discussing is devoted to education and to competing visions of how children learn. the smartest kids in how they got that way takes us to finland, south korea and poland and observes how the highly successful educational systems work and what's unique about it is that she does it through the eyes of three american kids who are spending a year in the school systems so it makes for a sort of unique combination of her and ... and the insights they provide. reviewing the book that he was wrote this is the most reporting i've ever seen on the differences between schools in america and abroad and at "the new york times" said in the best tradition of the travel writing and they just started a new school the conclusions have insight. amanda is an investigative journalist and the new america foundation and who decides when disaster strikes and why. she will be signing

please join me in welcoming amanda ripley. [applause] >> thank you very much. it's great to be here on many levels. one of which is this is the city where i live. how many people live in washington, dc? i assume almost all of your, or in the area. the other reason is that i wrote much of my first book, or at least any of the parts that were decent in the library of congress. it was the only place where i could find some focus and peace. i had a new baby at the time. this is my first book, "the unthinkable." and i would go there to this beautiful space and there's part where you can't get on the internet, which is a wonderful luxury, and it was really a salvation, and to have such a beautiful place we can all access is a privilege. so, i'm very glad to be here for all those reasons. very psyched i got put into the science pavilion. you never know where you'll end up when people categorize your book. what i want to do today is talk a little bit about a mystery. and it's a mystery that starts with data and has implications for the lives of millions of kids around