Exploring Fault Lines in the Constitution

In the coming weeks, Cynthia and Sanford Levinson will speak in various Massachusetts venues about their new book, Fault Lines in the Constitution: The Framers, Their Fights, and the Flaws that Affect Us Today.

This book is an exploration of the U.S. Constitution designed for readers aged ten to eighteen. School Library Journal said:

The book functions differently than a straightforward explanatory text on the U.S. Constitution. Rather, the authors examine the fissures and issues that arise when it comes to the actual application of the Constitution: Why does a small state have the same power in the Senate as a state with exponentially higher population? How can certain stipulations in the Constitution deter otherwise popular legislation? The text discusses current conflicts, such as the irony of “Taxation Without Representation” in regard to Washington, DC, and Senate filibusters that kill potentially popular legislation before it can even be voted on. 

Cynthia Levinson is an author of many nonfiction books for children, including We’ve Got a Job: The 1963 Birmingham Children’s March and Watch Out for Flying Kids! Sanford Levinson is Professor of Government and holds the Garwood Centennial Chair in Law at the University of Texas at Austin. They are married, and this is their first book together.

The Levinsons’ local appearances include:

• Saturday, 9 September, 3:00 P.M., at Porter Square Books in Cambridge.
• Sunday, 1 October, 3:00 P.M. at the Concord Bookshop in Concord.
• Wednesday, 25 October, 11:30 A.M. at the Harvard Law School Library in Cambridge; this panel discussion also includes Jennifer Hochschild, Amy Shine Jones, and Dan Covino.