Title: Soul of a Citizen: Living with Conviction in a Cynical Time

Author: Paul Roget Loeb
Target Audience: Students
Date: 1999 (1^st Edition), 2010 (2^nd Edition)

Succinct Summary: This collection of stories of social change will restore your faith in both society and the power of one. Loeb not only captures the stories and teaches about current, important, and urgent social issues, but he also teaches the reader the power of a shared story. This read is an uplifting experience for those who aim to create social change, but hesitate and second-guess themselves.

Reviewer quotes:

1. “The handbook for budding social activists, veteran organizers, and anybody who wants to make change – big or small – in the world around them.”
   – Macmillan Publishers
2.  “A book of inspiration and integrity, Soul of a Citizen is an antidote to the twin scourges of modern life-powerlessness and cynicism. In his evocative style. Paul Loeb tells moving tells moving stories of ordinary Americans who have found unexpected fulfillment in social involvement. Through their example and Loeb’s own wise and powerful lessons, we are compelled to move from passivity to participation. The reward of our action, we learn, is nothing less than a sense of connection and purpose not found in a purely personal life.
   – Goodreads
3. “Speaking to those who feel they should be more engaged in political life but have hesitated to take the plunge—Loeb’s Soul of a Citizen, first published in 1999, has found a large and devoted audience. Loeb has now revised and updated the book, with new reflections on the Obama campaign and the challenges of climate change. His wager is that hearing the stories of what motivated others to finally act will make us more likely to do so ourselves.”
   –Mark Engler, DemocracyUprising.com
4. “We are more likely to challenge homelessness if we hear the testimonies of individual people living on the street. We will work to overcome illiteracy after gaining a sense of what it’s like to be unable to read. We need to know how many thousands of gallons are leaking out each day from the Louisiana oil spill–that gives clues to the magnitude of the disaster. But we’re more likely to act on it if we can envision what actually happens as the oil begins to poison the shrimp, oysters, crawfish and pristeen beaches we’ve long taken for granted. Psychological studies of those who rescued Jews during the Holocaust found they differed from their peers in their ability to be moved by pain, sadness, and helplessness.”
   –Paul Loeb, The Huffington Post