This is the moving and powerful account of two remarkable boys struggling to survive in Chicago's Henry Horner Homes, a publi...
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Jan 13, 2009
Tim
rated it: 
This book changed my entire perception of the power of journalism. Kotlowitz follows the lives of two young boys growing up in the projects of the near West Side of Chicago. I consider it a seminal book in my life. It was both heart-wrenching and mind-opening. The writing is smooth and thoughtful. It is exhaustively researched, and his access to the subjects just astounds me. That he could get them to trust him as much as they did is astonishing. Then the story he records just astounds. Before r
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Oct 08, 2010
Lisa
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Fabulous book that had me rooting for the main character from page 3. This book offers a rare glimpse of what it's truly like to grow up among the worst of the worst housing projects in Chicago. Set in the 1980s but might as well be any decade as the issues never seem to change. The author tells the story by chronicling the lives of two young kids over a 2-year period as they struggle with family issues, gang violence, peer pressure, drugs, and much more. The younger of the two children is a
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May 31, 2010
There are no Children Here: the Story of Two Boys Growing Up in the Other America, by Alex Kotlowitz, narrated by Dion Graham, produced by Blackstone Audio, downloaded from audible.com.
This is the true life portrait of two boys, Lafeyette and Pharoah Rivers, ages 11 and 9 when the story begins in 1987. The author, a famous journalist, kept track of the family for four years. This included the two boys, their mother, and the six other children she had, plus a father who lived there More...
This is the true life portrait of two boys, Lafeyette and Pharoah Rivers, ages 11 and 9 when the story begins in 1987. The author, a famous journalist, kept track of the family for four years. This included the two boys, their mother, and the six other children she had, plus a father who lived there More...
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Jun 03, 2009
Chelsea
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This was yet another book I read in high school, but very different from the typical "classics" written by famous authors that wrote about things that are so foreign and far in the past they are almost completely impossible to relate to. This book I think was my teacher's pick and not on some pre-approved national high school book list, and this teacher was definitely one of my favorites. But back to the book, it's a disturbing look at the projects of Chicago and the children that live
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May 14, 2009
Frank
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I realize now I've been reading a lot of books about the old Chicago projects. Many of them tend to blur together into one tangled mess of shootings, pregnancies, drugs, and live-in fourth cousins, but this one broke my heart.
Instead of trying to detail every catastrophic news blurb that makes it out of the projects, a white reporter named Kotlowitz somehow manages to spend years hanging out with just two project boys, Lafeyette and Pharaoh. He sees Pharoah's first birthday p More...
Aug 31, 2008
Homeschoolmama
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I read this book while on vacation last week. Very moving and eye opening, poignant and sad. I think it's important to read about what life is like for others, people in different countries, different cultures, or people who live in difficult and turbulent contexts, like the boys in this book, (the Chicago projects). I am now curious about what has happened to the two boys, Pharaoh and Lafayette, and their families and friends since publication of this book.. I wonder, does anyone know?
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Aug 13, 2009
Teri
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At the time this book was written, I was nearly the same age as the main characters and living only 12 miles away in the near west suburb of Bellwood. We thought we were poor back then but this book has opened my eyes to bottomless abyss of poverty.
I'm now convinced that it is nearly impossible for people to rise out of their circumstances. We're not all born with equal opportunities. This book describes a culture where children can't learn because they're hungry/tired/distracted by More...
I'm now convinced that it is nearly impossible for people to rise out of their circumstances. We're not all born with equal opportunities. This book describes a culture where children can't learn because they're hungry/tired/distracted by More...
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Aug 08, 2011
Michael
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Potential readers of this book should know that “There Are No Children Here” is an extremely depressing look at the poverty stricken side of America. The book is written from interviews and interactions between the author and two children living in the projects, Lafeyette and Pharoah (intentionally spelled that way), and follows their lives for two years.
The style of the book reads like a story instead of a report, so instead of studying the two children, we are able to connect with them More...
The style of the book reads like a story instead of a report, so instead of studying the two children, we are able to connect with them More...
Apr 27, 2007
suzy
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A sad look as Chicago's west side projects (Robert Taylor) and a couple kids growing up there in the 1980's. The projects have since been torn down, but looked like this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Tayl...
I remember living near them for a summer and driving by them and being creeped out! I recall in the summer of '85 a toddler was raped and thrown off the roof to her death and that story only got a couple lines in the paper.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Tayl...
I remember living near them for a summer and driving by them and being creeped out! I recall in the summer of '85 a toddler was raped and thrown off the roof to her death and that story only got a couple lines in the paper.
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Dec 14, 2009
Nathaniel
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Grades: 6th - 8th (and up)
This story tells of the true story of two brothers growing up in the Henry Horner projects of Chicago over a two year period. It is set in the Horner Homes public housing district of Chicago. Brothers Lafeyette and Pharoah Rivers, along with their mother and siblings struggle to survive gun battles, gang influences, and over the top police officers to survive.
This is a text-centric book without pictures. The material is tailored more to an older More...
This story tells of the true story of two brothers growing up in the Henry Horner projects of Chicago over a two year period. It is set in the Horner Homes public housing district of Chicago. Brothers Lafeyette and Pharoah Rivers, along with their mother and siblings struggle to survive gun battles, gang influences, and over the top police officers to survive.
This is a text-centric book without pictures. The material is tailored more to an older More...
Jan 27, 2011
Genevieve
rated it:
I forget how I came across There Are No Children Here, Alex Kotlowitz's exploration of the lives of two boys growing up in Chicago public housing in the 1980s. Lafayette and Pharaoh Rivers are 11 and 9 years old at the start of the book, which follows them through the beginning of their teen years.
Most of what you hear or read about welfare, public housing, and the lives of the people who rely on these things really just touches on the surface. Kotlowitz's account makes it clear: for m More...
Most of what you hear or read about welfare, public housing, and the lives of the people who rely on these things really just touches on the surface. Kotlowitz's account makes it clear: for m More...
Apr 11, 2010
Jill
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I'm glad I perused the Best Non-Fiction Books on Goodreads to find this hidden treasure.
A few weeks ago, I read a really compelling book - Gang Leader for a Day. In that review, I mentioned that although I didn't learn a whole lot about the children in the projects, I thought the book would be useful for me if I teach low-income children. And then I found this book! It was about a different set of projects in Chicago (this was about the Henry Horner Homes, Gang Leader was about the R More...
A few weeks ago, I read a really compelling book - Gang Leader for a Day. In that review, I mentioned that although I didn't learn a whole lot about the children in the projects, I thought the book would be useful for me if I teach low-income children. And then I found this book! It was about a different set of projects in Chicago (this was about the Henry Horner Homes, Gang Leader was about the R More...
May 31, 2011
Shawna
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I am going to agree with another reviewer and say that this book is not entirely liberal or conservative. Yes, "we" created this problem and yes, their poor choices help to keep them there. However, I can't help but think that ready access to birth control would have prevented LaJoe from bringing 7 (!) kids into the world and thereby would have reduced some of the strain. But clearly when the basement of their building is filled with rotting animal carcasses and appliances that were
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Jan 28, 2012
ba
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This is a very moving account of two young boys growing up in a housing project in Chicago. It follows them for several years, and includes details of their mom, dad, other relatives, friends, teachers and associates. It's also a war story, in which every character is scarred in some way by their environment, either physically or mentally of both. Unfortunately, it is also a true story.
The author wrote this in a very journalistic fashion, in that he only wrote about things he saw, or More...
The author wrote this in a very journalistic fashion, in that he only wrote about things he saw, or More...
Sep 01, 2009
Ashley
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As part of the orientation process for UNC freshman, the administration asked that new students read this book. I would bet that not half of the incoming freshman actually read this book. I was among the half that did read this book and I am so glad that I did. This book follows the lives of people living in the slums of Chicago. It is unbelievable that these are true stories. The name comes from the fact that the kids who grow up in this atmosphere have no childhood. They are forced to gr
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Dec 17, 2008
Theresa
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I had to pick a book to read for my public health class and this was it. This book not only describes the unhealthy lives of the children the book focuses on, but also highlights the breakdown of the entire community in which they live. For anyone who thinks that being poor is a crime OR that it is one's fault, read this book & be grateful for what you have. I already knew this, but this book taught me on a whole other level that there is a difference between being flat broke and being poor.
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Feb 06, 2011
Shawn
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What a powerful view this book provides into life for children in "the projects!" The real circumstances that these kids live in are just unbelievable. Reading this certainly gave me a dose of gratitude. When we lived in Minneapolis we lived fairly close to several high-rise, low-income housing projects buildings. They were nicknamed the "crack stacks," and the few times I accompanied missionaries there for visits always made me feel like I was being watched and like it w
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Nov 19, 2009
Meredith
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If you're looking for a book to make you grateful for all the things you have and were raised with, this is it. It is a non-fiction account of a Wall Street Journal reporter who followed two boys and their family in urban Chicago in the late 1980's. It's amazing what some people have to endure just to get through childhood. I enjoyed this account, although at times, I felt like the story was a little wearing because they witnessed so much death and crime. I would be curious to know where the
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Jan 11, 2010
Jared
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Interesting read, and I respect what Kotlowitz achieved in bringing the troubles of inner-city America to suburban audiences nationwide. However, the pace is glacial and the book not particularly well-written; in addition, I noticed an astounding number of typos and other errors in this text. Surprisingly sloppy for a 20 year old bestseller from a major publisher. I rarely if ever notice spelling errors in books, but could not help but be distracted by the frequent errors in this edition. An
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Aug 30, 2009
Shauber1
rated it:
Every white person in Chicago needs to read this book. I have always known that our city is one of the most segregated big cities in America, and Kotlowitz's nonfiction account of two boys' lives in the projects makes it clear just how different the lives of black Chicago youth can be from the lives of white Chicago youth. This book will raise anyone's level of awareness about just how racist and unfair life is in America, and it does so without *trying* to do that. The book exists to tell the b
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Feb 06, 2012
Cathleen
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Several colleagues are passionate about this book, but I struggled to engage. It shouts that it wants to be an "important" book, and there is no denying that the lives portrayed are heartbreaking. Still, the journalistic style is hardly as narrative or readable as I was led to believe. Perhaps the overpraise set me up to be disappointed, but I also have serious reservations about what direction a community discussion of this book might take. I'm not convinced that empathy for the f
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Jun 11, 2010
Marty
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I read this book before my Chicago adventure working as a counselor with the Inner City Kids at different camps. It is so true, these kids have experienced things most adults have not, all the while being in little bodies that still just want to play, be loved, and be kids. I still miss "my boys" Earl, Koya, and Tarrus. I wonder where you are and what has happened to you. Earl changed my life when he told me, "If I had a mom, I would want her to be you." He did have a mom
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Oct 14, 2010
Nedd
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There Are No Children Here by Alex Kotlowitz is a story about two brothers , Lafayette and Pharaoh Rivers growing up in Chicago's poverty stricken project homes. Lafayette and Pharaoh lived in Henry Horner Homes near Chicago's westside with their mother Lajoe and many brothers and sisters. The book follows the two boys over a 2 year period were we begin to learn the struggles the brothers go through everyday . Without a father in there lives Lafayette and Pharaoh have to learn on their own how
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Aug 16, 2010
Miss Carlino
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This remains one of the most powerful books I have ever read and I strongly encourage everyone to read it, especially those who, like I was, are privileged and don't really know what that means. It's a tale that forces you to realize why the achievement gap - in all aspects of life - really exists. I read section of this to my students every year and every year two or three kids read it. The change in them is unmistakable, just as it was in me when I first read it. Are you ready for change?
No More...
No More...
Jul 02, 2010
Brittany
rated it:
This remains one of the most powerful books I have ever read and I strongly encourage everyone to read it, especially those who, like I was, are privileged and don't really know what that means. It's a tale that forces you to realize why the achievement gap - in all aspects of life - really exists. I read section of this to my students every year and every year two or three kids read it. The change in them is unmistakable, just as it was in me when I first read it. Are you ready for change?
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Dec 23, 2011
Sarah
rated it:
Kotlowitz follows two brothers, 9-year-old Pharoah and 11-year-old Lafeyette, as they go about their daily lives in the gang-plagued housing projects of late '80s Chicago. Although the book is old and the housing projects have since been demolished, most of the issues it discusses - drugs, gangs, lack of education and resources, etc. - are still being faced by the urban poor today. The characters, especially Pharoah and Lafeyette, are shown in such a sympathetic way that you can't help rooting
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Apr 08, 2011
Justin
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OK so I did not actually finish this book. I got about 1/3 of the way through and the cynic in me was screaming to just put this book down so I listened. It seemed, to me, that Kotlowitz was taking too much creative liscence in recounting the events taking place in this story. I'd have preferred to simply be told the story without the author trying so desperately to make me feel so bad for everyone. Everybody is such a great person in this book even the drug dealers, murderers and gang leade
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Jan 24, 2011
Aron
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This is an extremely well done book and an impressive piece of journalism. It's a quick read, though I occasionally thought the author was being a bit too lyrical with his descriptions of the boys' experiences. In retrospect, I got that feeling mostly early on, so it very well may have been intentional - to set up a contrast to the later dreariness of the their lives. Were I unfamiliar with the basic story here, I'm sure I would've rated it higher. Regardless, I wouldn't hesitate to recommen
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Apr 20, 2009
Chelsea
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Alex Kotlowitz first met Pharoah and Lafayette, the subjects of the book, as a journalist writing a story to accompany photographs a friend had taken of children growing up in "the projects" of Chicago. He then spent several years getting to know the children and their friends and family, eventually compiling his notes and experiences into this engaging and compelling book. His affection and empathy for these kids bleeds through the pages.
I didn't realize when I picked More...
I didn't realize when I picked More...
Feb 15, 2010
Nancy
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This reads like a sociology textbook, rather than a novel, which it is not. In all fairness, I lost interest halfway through the book. The climax that set the rest of the book apart hadn't shown up in those first 150 pages. Every day was conflict and climax. It is heartrending yet achingly difficult to not ask myself, as a middle class Caucasian, why did she continue to have children when the father was out of the picture? Why didn't she seek employment sooner?
But, as I pointed out, More...
But, as I pointed out, More...
