Creating Restorative Schools is based on Martha Brown's study of two middle schools in the Oakland Unified School District that are making the shift to a restorative model. The book maps the route from school cultures of zero tolerance to those cultivating healthy and vibrant relational ecologies at all levels. Addressing the potential pitfalls of implementing such a deep change in school culture, Martha shows how nurturing relationships builds the capacity to make the shift and negotiate the challenges. Restorative schools emerge as places where people want to be—where teachers want to teach and students want to learn. At the time of the study, these schools were several years into the transition from a punitive model of discipline to a whole-school restorative one. Martha's comparison of the two schools' experiences with Restorative Justice in Education (RJE) encompasses the myriad factors which contribute to outcomes: monetary resources, time and personnel resources, preparation and willingness to change, turnover rates, and make-up of the larger community. We hear from teachers, students, administrators, and other staff describing how the change looks from their perspectives—in school structures, people, and classrooms. Martha analyzes the relationship between change theory and relational ecologies, covering the themes of trust, being heard, student-centered culture, and commitment to social justice. She encourages the reader to push deeper into the paradigm shift by considering the impact of racial biases on African American students, for whom interventions did not always result in meaningful change, and what it means to become culturally competent. Finally, Martha brings the discussion of RJE to a broader arena, discussing actions for policy makers, putting RJE into teacher and leader education programs, and building a restorative community base.