This book tells the stories of 12 Americans, many no one has ever heard of, and how they did the small, daily work of the next best thing to make a difference. These stories range from teachers who raised money for schools, people who fought for civil rights, many people who did things for other people.

If you like this type of short story about interesting histories of people, Sharon’s Instagram accounts often feature similar stories. She does deep dives about different people and historical events that seem very similar in format to these stories, often spread over her stories and a few saved in her highlights. Her subscription programs offer more of them.

These stories aren’t linked together in any way, they are very much 12 different stories. As an educator, several feature teachers and students.

She begins the book with a story of Gouverneur Morris who helped write the Preamble and Constitution, yet no one knows who he was.

“I wrote this book because I have long suspected that the best Americans are not always famous. …The best Americans are not the critics, they are the doers. They are the people who went for broke when everyone else yelled to turn back. They are those who know that one becomes great because of who they lift up, not who they put down. “ introduction

“The civil rights movement would be nowhere without the courage of people with the least amount of political, social, and economic power. Those whose very lives breathed oxygen into justice and freedom, whose cumulative actions worked to unfasten the padlocks centuries of oppression. None of them could do it all, but they all could do something. And it might as well be the next needed thing.” Ch 26

“Septima Clark and Virginia Randolph knew that education is liberation. And an educated population is very difficult to oppress. 

Clara Brown and Rebecca Mitchell had the audacity to continue to hope, despite all evidence to the contrary, and the perseverance never to quit even when people told them they should. 

Inez Milholland and Maria de Lopez used their speaking and organizational skills to help create meaningful change.

Anna Jeanes and Julius Rosenwald knew that a lasting legacy didn't have to mean your name on the side of a building, but that it came from improving the condition of others. 

Daniel Inouye and Norman Mineta knew the power of consensus building, and what an apology can do.

Claudette Colvin and Rosa Parks were willing to stand up to injustice, even though it might have looked like they were remaining seated.”
Conclusion

“I-and the small and mighty people in this book-want you to know that being a great American isn't dependent on fame or fortune.
It doesn't require your name to be recorded in the annals of history or to appear on a ballot. I'd want you to know that the American experiment is full of ill-equipped people, people with the "wrong" faces and the "wrong" faces and the "wrong" life circumstances, who just went for it. They just tried something no one had done before. They were willing to let other people watch them fail. They just did the next right thing.” Conclusion