in Circles: Black Struggle for School Reform, by Barbara A. Sizemore. Chicago: Third World Press, 2008, 370 pp., $19.95, paperback. What does mean to be leader of school reform in an urban district? What is like to be a Black female superintendent with passion, have innate ability to lead, a vision for educating Black children - and not be able to make a sustained impact on district schools? How does this leader determine direction, destination, and begin journey? What crystallizes leader's stance and pace? What defines walking? How does this type of walking touch soul? And, who does walker become? To answer these questions, I delved into in Circles: Black Struggle for School Reform, an epic account of long journey by late Barbara A. Sizemore. book's title, Walking in Circles, describes what some might call a vicious cycle, a brutal and continuous journey that produced a few improvements while inciting conflicts between community leaders and school administrators. Readers may be familiar with stories about Barbara, have heard reports, and have read news excerpts about Dr. Barbara A. Sizemore. One Washington Post article described her tenure in District of Columbia (DC) this way: Mrs. Sizemore assumed center stage in an arena that was wracked by social ferment, political battles and court fights during two decades of civil rights struggles and District's drive for home rule. campaign for self -government ended only last year with city's first elected mayor and Council in more than a century. (Lamb, 2004, p. B06) In DC, Barbara's tenure, like that of superintendents before and after, mirrors distasteful relationship between city's school board and its superintendent. Similarly, Barbara's actions in community were often a flashpoint for board conflict. book reflects her brilliance. In fact, Dr. Sizemore had a reputation of being an extraordinary educator and a courageous advocate for decentralization and community-controlled schools in DC. embattled Dr. Sizemore made no secret that she was particularly interested in raising academic achievement of African American students. However, Barbara's educational philosophy and administrative style led to her being terminated by city's elected school board in 1975. As I completed book, became painfully apparent that Dr. Sizemore's legacy had not yet been realized. In late 1980s, Barbara Sizemore called standardized tests the new lynching tool for aspirations of African Americans and in 1989 stated that it seems best way to eliminate tests is to help minorities to pass them. (p. 308). She added, Tests can then become diagnostic tools they were meant to be instead of mechanism for separating winners and losers. (p. 308). Therefore, I was stunned to read unspeakable. Dr. Sizemore's tenure in DC had been terminated - too soon. Howard University retired professor and one of leaders of Center for Inner-City Studies (CICS) at Northeastern Illinois University, Dr. Nancy L. Amez wrote a case study of Dr. Sizemore's tenure and relationship with school board. In Besieged School Superintendent, Amez said that Sizemore was ahead of her time (Arnez, 1981). In a 1996 interview Dr. Arnez had with Education Week she stated, concerning Dr. Sizemore, The fact that she could stand up to authority is one of things that frightened people (Bradley, 1996) . In fact, Her approach to Congress was not one of supplication and of begging. She was just putting forth, in a strong manner, kinds of things she had in mind to help these non-achieving students achieve (p. 36). Chapters 1 through 3 help reader understand Barbara's early beginnings and why she became such a strong pioneer for children. writing is clear, crisp, and candid. Chapter 4 shares her experience as a school leader - struggle, stress, and strain of this work. …