[applause] >> brooke hauser reporting on the international high school in new york city. to find out more, visit the author's website, brooke hauser.com. here's a look at the best-selling nonfiction books according to u.s. today

and now please welcome brooke hauser. [applause] >> so suzanne said, we're here to discuss brooke's new book, and it's about just to give a capsule summary, a high school in brooklyn called the international high school, which specializes in the education of immigrant teens, and brooke spent much time at the school, chronicling a year in its life and the life of its seniors, and i wanted to -- brooke will do a reading of a portion later, but i wanted to ask a few little introductory questions. the first of which is, brooke, you're an experienced journalist. you've written a lot about hollywood and about film. this is a subject matter that is far afield from that. how did you come to this topic? >> actually, the person who led me to the international school is in the audience, his name is ronny saja, and he we went to come together and he was working at the international rescue committee, which is an agency that helps to resettle refugees across the country, and at the time his girlfriend lauren was interested in doing som

now please welcome brooke hauser [applause] [applause] >> so, suzanne so we are here to discuss brooks' new book. it is about, just to give a capsule summary, i school in brooklyn called the international high-school, which specializes in the education of immigrant teens. brooks spent much time at the school chronicling a year in its life and a life of its the use. i wanted to -- brooklyn to a reading of the apportionment later, but of want to ask a few introductory questions. the first of which is, your experienced journalist. you have written a lot about hollywood and the bell fell. this is the subject matter that is far afield from that. how did you come to this topic? >> actually, the present limit to the international school is in the audience. we went to college together. he was working at the international rescue committee, which is an agency that helps to resettle refugees across the country. at the time my girl friend was interested in doing some volunteer work with some of the students of the brides and to nationalize the oil. i heard about this school, and i became very inte

and brooke hauser said it was engrossing. so now i have my answer when they say what's your book about, i say, i wrote a thriller on the constitution. you can make your own judgment on that, but at least they don't roll their eyes. also, the subject was important, and as soon as any hole in the story of american history is identified, that's standing invitation for the likes of people like me to jump in and get to work. i had also heard or knew of, i guess, james maddison's statement in congress in 1796 that if you wanted to know the meaning of the constitution beyond its words, the place to go was not the records of the federal convention, which only proposed it, but the state ratifying conventions where the voices of the people breathed life into what was only a dead proposal previously. i later came to the -- i don't say much about the significance of that in the book. i came understand i'm a historian not a lawyer, i'll leave it to other to tieles out what legal implications but i knew it would be important and have audie