Who's Afraid of the Still Small Voice?
Essays on Teaching, Learning, and Faith
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Pub Date Sep 15 2026 | Archive Date Sep 26 2026
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Description
“A courageous and necessary correction to our educational derangements. Nelson is both smart and hopeful. An excellent sobering read.”
—Junot Díaz, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
In Who’s Afraid of the Still Small Voice? Cassandra Nelson reflects on coming of age as a teacher and a mother at a time when both vocations—and, worse, the children they serve—are increasingly under threat. In four linked essays, Nelson cuts through the fog of the culture wars to untangle what is at stake in ongoing debates surrounding American education. Her reflections approach trigger warnings, DEI, edtech, and other controversial topics with uncommon depth, nuance, and generosity of spirit.
The daughter of an immigrant mother and a proud graduate of public K–12 schools, Nelson draws on a lifetime of reading and her own personal experiences as a doctoral student in literature at Harvard University, an assistant professor of English at the United States Military Academy, and a stay-at-home mom to argue for a recovery of values essential to teaching and to learning: competence, care, and a respect for tradition and the individual conscience.
Equal parts vulnerable and incisive, this faith-filled book gathers momentum with each finely wrought sentence. Readers who want to make a difference in the lives of children and young people today are invited to slow down, quiet the noise in our heads, and listen to the still small voice that is patiently waiting to guide us, even in these turbulent and unprecedented times.
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CASSANDRA NELSON is a fellow in literature at the Lumen Center in Madison, Wisconsin, and an associate fellow at the University of Virginia’s Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture. Before that, she taught literature and composition at the United States Military Academy. She received her BA in English and MA in Editorial Studies from Boston University and a PhD in English literature from Harvard University. She is the author of A Theology of Fiction (Wiseblood Books, 2025) and editor of Samuel Beckett’s More Pricks than Kicks (Faber and Faber, 2010).
Advance Praise
MORE PRAISE FOR WHO'S AFRAID OF THE STILL SMALL VOICE
“Cassandra Nelson’s Who’s Afraid of the Still Small Voice? reinvigorates the joy and depths of the teaching vocation by inviting us to grapple with timely topics of trauma, authority, and diversity and emerge on the other side with a vision for relational authority and faithful presence. With beautiful prose, refreshing vulnerability, and biblical wisdom, these essays distill the essence of what makes a great teacher. I found myself eager to meet my incoming students, to love them well, and model for them a life in Christ.”
—Heather Holleman, PhD, Associate Teaching Professor, Penn State and author of Sent: Living a Life that Invites Others to Jesus and The Six Conversations: Pathways to Connecting in a Age of Isolation and Incivility (Moody)
“Cassandra Nelson’s essays are insightful, provocative, and original efforts to understand the state of teaching and learning in the United States. She explores habits and concepts that are too often overlooked in all levels of education, including curiosity, compassion, patience, authority, and faithful presence. And she reminds us of the things, like wisdom and equanimity, we gain from careful—and joyful—attention to literature. Who’s Afraid of the Still Small Voice?: Essays on Teaching, Learning, and Faith is a rich and rewarding collection for teachers who seek to deepen their understanding, appreciation, and practice of their vocation.”
—Christopher Scalia, Senior Fellow in the Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies department at the American Enterprise Institute and author of 13 Novels Conservatives Will Love (but Probably Haven’t Read)
“This courageous book grapples with some of our historical moment’s most important topics so often absent from our current discussion about education. The answer to Nelson's question, ‘Who’s afraid of the still small voice?’ is likely ‘all too many of us,’ particularly in the loud, frenetic, ear-budded world we have created for ourselves. Fortunately, Nelson provides a way of opening our hearts to the quiet presence of grace.”
—Douglas Yacek, Senior Lecturer of Ethics and Multiculturalism at the University of Applied Sciences for Policing and Public Administration NRW (Germany)
Available Editions
| EDITION | Ebook |
| ISBN | 9781967900084 |
| PRICE | $14.95 (USD) |
| PAGES | 134 |