There Are No Children Here: The Story of Two Boys Growing Up in The Other America,   ISBN:9780385265560

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This is the story of two brothers growing up in an inner-city public housing projects. I couldn't put it down. Pharoah and Lafayette (9 & 11) have had their childhoods cut short by the many terrible things they've witnessed in their mostly black neighborhood. One of the most disturbing parts is the description of what has been sitting in the basement of their apartment building; hundreds of appliances never distributed to needy families, completely rusted and gone to waste amid years-old garbage and the rotting bodies of dead animals. At one point in the story, Lafayette says, "If I grow up, I'd like to be a bus driver." Not when, IF. This book is a must-read for anyone who is naive enough to think that everyone in America is given an equal chance at success and happiness. It was eye opening.

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I cannot think of a better narrative of what life is like in the urban ghettos than "There Are No Children Here." The title comes from what an interviewee told the author- "you know, there are no children here, they've seen too much to be children."

Alex Kotlowitz followed two young brothers, Lafayette and Pharaoh Rivers, who live in the Horner Housing Project in Chicago, in the late 1980s. They struggle just to stay alive in the extremely violent projects, and to find a way to brake free. Social problems are rampant- gang warfare is a daily occurrence, drugs are abundant, young mothers regularly have more children than they can responsibly provide for, and people are constantly trapped in a vicious cycle of poverty. Kotlowitz explains the origins of inner-city black poverty in the migration to cities from rural communities in the 30s and 40s, and the sad story of the attempts to put forth public housing in the downtown, and the eventual pushing of the housing projects into an out-of-the-way area. But through all of this Lafayette and Pharaoh look out for each other and make it through life as best as they can, with the help of their dedicated mother, LaJoe.

This is not an easy book to read, nor does it offer easy solutions to the problems depicted therein. But anyone who seeks to understand inner-city poverty, and how individuals cope with it, need to read this book.

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This book is about a family living in the Henry Horner housing project in Chicago during a couple years in the 80's, primarily dealing with two boys, Lafayette, who's 11 at the beginning of the book and his younger brother Pharoah, who's 9. They live with their mother LaJoe, their siblings and various relatives who come and go, sometimes including their father.

It's a rough neighborhood and they have to contend with drug dealers, over crowded schools, random gunfire, poor housing, hostility from the police, amongst other problems. The kids are used to ducking for cover when they hear a gunfight break out outside their apartment. They have a bathtub that never stops running and an oven that doesn't always work. They have friends who are murdered.

It's a tough place to grow up but the author gives us their positive moments. Pharoah is an aspiring spelling bee competitor and has a personal refuge in a grassy neighborhood a few blocks away. Lafayette befriends an amateur local dj and helps his mother take care of the household.

This is an amazing book. It reminded me of great 19th century authors like Dickens. It's that good. Recommended with no qualifications whatsoever.

Customer Rating: 

"There Are No Children Here" is an extraordinary book about living in the projects of chicago. This book is dated since this project got knocked down years ago, but it does not make the story any less relevant. It's about two boys, Lafeyette and Pharoah, and their families living day to day just trying to survive. You get into this story quick and stay there. It's a good read. I recommend it.