54 Global Education Review 2 (1) _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Global Education Review is a publication of The School of Education at Mercy College, New York. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Unported License, permitting all non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Citation: De Jesus, Olga (2015). Cultural Awareness and Global Citizenship. [Review of the book Keys to Success, by Carol Carter and Sarah Lyman Kravits]. Global Education Review, 2 (1). 54-55. Book Review Cultural Awareness and Global Citizenship “Keys to Success” by Carol Carter and Sarah Lyman Kravits By Olga De Jesus Keys to Success: Cultural Awareness and Global Citizenship is a 30-page book written by renowned authors Carol Carter and Sarah Lyman Kravits. Carter is the author and co- author of 20 books and a speaker at education conferences across the country. She regularly appears on radio, television, and in print discussing today’s topics about student and career success. Lyman Kravits has also authored and co-authored many books discussing tips for student academic success. Such books include Keys to Community College Success, which sets the standard for connecting academic success to success beyond school, showing students how to apply strategies within college, career, and life. In Keys to Success: Cultural Awareness and Global Citizenship, Carter and Lyman Kravits attempt to engage students in a discussion on the importance of being vested with cultural awareness and obtaining cultural citizenship. The authors hope that by the end of reading their book, each student would have explored answers to the following questions: (1) What is cultural awareness? (2) How can I build cultural competency? (3) What is global citizenship? and (4) How can I take action as a global citizen? At the beginning of the text as a way for the young reader to self-reflect on this idea, Carter and Lyman Kravits present a culturally aware global citizen student survey containing 10 statements to be scored from 1 being “never” to 5 being “always.” Additionally, the authors incorporated four interactive student activities which consist of: Speak It. This is a writing activity in which students are prompted to brainstorm and list 10 words or phrases that describe them. This activity is designed to allow students to expand on their personal perceptions of culture. Know It. This is a two part activity in which students have to first complete the culturally competent development survey, on a scale of 1 being “not developed” to 5 Cultural Awareness and Global Citizenship 55 being “highly developed.” The second part requires students to plan and take action on building cultural competence. Write It. In this exercise, the students are required to do journal entries considering their thoughts on prejudice and stereotypes. Students have to describe a personal experience if possible. Students have to explain what they learned from the experience and how it informs their day- to-day now. Do It. For this last activity students are required to identify their community, community needs and set goals on how they can improve or help address this need. Overall, Keys to Success: Cultural Awareness and Global Citizenship is an informative and enjoyable book to read. With the simplicity of the language used and the organization of its content, Carter and Lyman Kravits do an excellent job at capturing the attention of the intended audience. By incorporating midpoint activities, it allows the reader to take small breaks from reading but also serves as a comprehensive mechanism. As a former middle school educator of many years and now a professor in the school of education at Mercy College, I strongly believe in and emphasize to my teaching candidates the importance of implementing comprehensive check points during a reading experience. This, as a strategic tool, is very effective with young readers, especially if the reader is an English language learner or student with disabilities. Keys to Success: Cultural Awareness and Global Citizenship is a recommendable text for secondary students. However, it can be a great resource tool for secondary educators who are interested in helping their students achieve a higher level of cultural and global citizenship awareness. This text comes with Pearson’s MyLab resource tool. MyLab is designed to reach students in a personal way by engaging their learning with practical opportunities which lead to assessments that create a personalized study plan. “Keys to Success: Cultural Awareness and Global Citizenship.” By Carol Cater and Sarah Lyman Kravits. Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2013. ISBN: 978-0-13- 285023-0 About the Authors Carol Carter is a national and international student success author and speaker. She is a co-author of the Keys to Success series of student success and study skills textbooks and president of LifeBound, a student success and transition company. Sarah Lyman Kravits is a co-author on the Keys to Success series of textbooks. She previously worked as program director for LifeSkills, Inc., a nonprofit organization that aims to further the career and personal development of high school students. About the Reviewer Olga De Jesus, Ed.D., is a full time faculty member in the School of Education at Mercy College. Dr. DeJesus has been an educator for 20 years with expertise in bilingual and special education. She is an active member of the New York State Association of Bilingual Educators (NYSABE) and is on the NYSED committee designated to establish the standards for the New York State Seal of Bi-Literacy Initiative. Her most recent publication, English Language Learners: International Undergraduate English Language Learners' Perception of Distance Learning, has gained international interest. Dr. DeJesus has presented in Austria and has currently been invited to be a member of the Oxford Round Table Conference at Oxford University in England.