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

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The Wall Street Journal reporter Aelx Kotlowitz's "There Are No Children Here" is a sociological survey of life in a Chicago public housing complex called Henry Horner Homes. To research the book Mr. Kotlowitz spent two years hanging out with two young brothers Lafayette and Pharoah Rivers, but while in the midst of writing the book probably discovered other characters to be much more interesting, and thus devotes far more attention to them.

The main character is the mother, LaJoe Rivers, who is amazingly creative and resilient, trying her best to keep her family together against impossible odds. She comes from a family that has involved itself in politics, and thus she chooses not to just bitterly resign herself to her poverty, like most of her neighbors. Still, she is limited and crippled by the brutal facts around her. The dead-beat drug addict father of her children is a parasite on her resources, and his presence raises concerns from city welfare officials that she is double-dipping. There are a thousand arguments she could have employed to save her groceries, but instead she in the end resorts to gambling to put food on the table for her children.

In one of the book's final poignant scenes, Lafayette accuses his father Paul of selling the family dog for drug money, and that causes Paul to pummel the young teenager, who sits there meekly trying to soften the blows. No wonder then that Lafayette and LaJoe see authority, any and all authority, as arbitrary and cruel, not to be resisted but to be endured. Fairness in their world means simply to be acknowledged, and when the judge politely handed down his harsh and unjust welfare judgement, LaJoe could only silently think that the man was at least respectful.

There is an alien self-defeating logic that controls the residents of Henry Horner. When LaJoe's son Terrence is accused by the police of a crime he did not commit he does not choose to seek justice and fairness by proving he is innocent -- he thinks that impossible and ridiculous (And given the prevalence of police brutality, where the policemen feel that they must behave like crazy animals because they are in fact surrounded by crazy animals, Terrence is not unfair in thinking that he cannot receive a fair trial). Instead, he commits a real crime just so he would not have to suffer the indignity of being condemned unfairly by the system.

The greatest tragedy in the book is the death of Lafayette's friend, Craig Davis. A model youth, liked by his teachers and peers, he was an aspiring disc jockey who was once arrested by the police because he was at the wrong place at the wrong time. When he is stopped by the police yet again he chooses to run away, trying his best to avoid jail and injustice. In the ensuing chase he is shot dead, and while there is ample evidence that the policeman acted irresponsibly and zealously the authorities closed ranks, and insisted that Craig Davis was a gang member. No wonder then that residents of Henry Horner think that calling 911 does not bring help, but trouble.

Authority means those who can bring law and order, fairness and respect, and that at Henry Horner for better or worse means charismatic and savvy druglord Jimmie Lee. What we perceive to be the cancer -- the violence, the drugs, the vicious circle -- is in fact the organism at Henry Horner.

At Henry Horner, there is a line between being a child and being a teenager, and the line is a final, irreversible edge, a sharp drop into the abyss. Being a child means still possessing the faith and imagination to see the possibilities ahead of you, and being a teenager means accepting the limitations of your world -- it means giving up on life. Pharoah is still a child in that he competes in spelling bees, and attends summer camps at the local university. Lafayette is a teenager in that he has already been arrested once by the authorities, and his friends are all spiralling into the world of drugs and gangs.

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Book was bought for a good price, a little bit more worn that I expected but I guess it did meet the product description. Reasonable shipping time. Thanks.

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Book was sent quickly and was in great condition. Would do bussiness with this business/person again.

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This book is truly bracing, and eminently worth reading. It gives deep insight into life in the ghettoes of America, and stays with you. Like all good books, it enters into your "thought vocabulary", making it a reference point in the way you see any number of things. I strongly recommend this book to those with an interest in sociology or urban welfare policy.

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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.