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Poverty Books
Showing 1-50 of 11,565
Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City (Hardcover)
by (shelved 325 times as poverty)
avg rating 4.47 — 119,002 ratings — published 2016
The Glass Castle (Paperback)
by (shelved 267 times as poverty)
avg rating 4.33 — 1,417,536 ratings — published 2005
Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity (Hardcover)
by (shelved 216 times as poverty)
avg rating 3.98 — 119,701 ratings — published 2012
Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America
by (shelved 216 times as poverty)
avg rating 3.66 — 197,041 ratings — published 2001
Poverty, by America (Hardcover)
by (shelved 186 times as poverty)
avg rating 4.27 — 67,836 ratings — published 2023
Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis (Hardcover)
by (shelved 165 times as poverty)
avg rating 3.83 — 516,642 ratings — published 2016
Demon Copperhead (Hardcover)
by (shelved 131 times as poverty)
avg rating 4.46 — 921,644 ratings — published 2022
Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother's Will to Survive (Hardcover)
by (shelved 125 times as poverty)
avg rating 3.86 — 116,890 ratings — published 2019
Angela's Ashes (Frank McCourt, #1)
by (shelved 115 times as poverty)
avg rating 4.16 — 671,433 ratings — published 1996
Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty (Hardcover)
by (shelved 109 times as poverty)
avg rating 4.27 — 25,291 ratings — published 2011
The Grapes of Wrath (Hardcover)
by (shelved 109 times as poverty)
avg rating 4.04 — 1,033,485 ratings — published 1939
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Paperback)
by (shelved 102 times as poverty)
avg rating 4.31 — 536,713 ratings — published 1943
Down and Out in Paris and London (Paperback)
by (shelved 95 times as poverty)
avg rating 4.09 — 107,304 ratings — published 1933
The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time (Paperback)
by (shelved 90 times as poverty)
avg rating 3.69 — 11,306 ratings — published 2005
Free Lunch (Hardcover)
by (shelved 88 times as poverty)
avg rating 4.36 — 11,854 ratings — published 2019
$2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America (Hardcover)
by (shelved 83 times as poverty)
avg rating 3.96 — 8,996 ratings — published 2015
Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival & Hope in an American City (Hardcover)
by (shelved 73 times as poverty)
avg rating 4.70 — 20,472 ratings — published 2021
The Benefits of Being an Octopus (Hardcover)
by (shelved 73 times as poverty)
avg rating 4.21 — 16,745 ratings — published 2018
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (Hardcover)
by (shelved 69 times as poverty)
avg rating 4.05 — 289,541 ratings — published 2007
Maddi's Fridge (Hardcover)
by (shelved 60 times as poverty)
avg rating 4.53 — 2,024 ratings — published 2014
When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty without Hurting the Poor...and Yourself (Paperback)
by (shelved 60 times as poverty)
avg rating 4.20 — 14,308 ratings — published 2009
Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood (Hardcover)
by (shelved 59 times as poverty)
avg rating 4.48 — 854,934 ratings — published 2016
Where the Crawdads Sing (ebook)
by (shelved 59 times as poverty)
avg rating 4.37 — 3,815,968 ratings — published 2018
Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century (Paperback)
by (shelved 59 times as poverty)
avg rating 4.02 — 51,732 ratings — published 2017
Oliver Twist (Paperback)
by (shelved 59 times as poverty)
avg rating 3.88 — 439,551 ratings — published 1838
The Four Winds (Hardcover)
by (shelved 58 times as poverty)
avg rating 4.30 — 1,110,194 ratings — published 2021
Banker to the Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty (Paperback)
by (shelved 55 times as poverty)
avg rating 4.12 — 10,515 ratings — published 1991
The Working Poor: Invisible in America (Paperback)
by (shelved 54 times as poverty)
avg rating 4.04 — 5,774 ratings — published 2004
Just Mercy (Paperback)
by (shelved 53 times as poverty)
avg rating 4.62 — 273,815 ratings — published 2014
Salvage the Bones (Hardcover)
by (shelved 53 times as poverty)
avg rating 3.96 — 76,577 ratings — published 2011
There Are No Children Here: The Story of Two Boys Growing Up in the Other America (Unknown Binding)
by (shelved 53 times as poverty)
avg rating 4.30 — 16,381 ratings — published 1991
Last Stop on Market Street (Hardcover)
by (shelved 52 times as poverty)
avg rating 4.31 — 19,105 ratings — published 2015
Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth (Hardcover)
by (shelved 51 times as poverty)
avg rating 3.76 — 16,956 ratings — published 2018
A Framework for Understanding Poverty (Paperback)
by (shelved 50 times as poverty)
avg rating 3.92 — 5,478 ratings — published 2001
Crenshaw (Hardcover)
by (shelved 49 times as poverty)
avg rating 3.97 — 39,296 ratings — published 2015
Front Desk (Front Desk #1)
by (shelved 48 times as poverty)
avg rating 4.35 — 48,119 ratings — published 2018
Those Shoes (Hardcover)
by (shelved 48 times as poverty)
avg rating 4.45 — 4,133 ratings — published 2007
The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries Are Failing and What Can Be Done About It (Hardcover)
by (shelved 47 times as poverty)
avg rating 3.85 — 8,076 ratings — published 2007
Hand to Mouth: Living in Bootstrap America (Hardcover)
by (shelved 46 times as poverty)
avg rating 3.58 — 6,137 ratings — published 2014
Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World – and Why Things Are Better Than You Think (Hardcover)
by (shelved 45 times as poverty)
avg rating 4.35 — 207,901 ratings — published 2018
Educated (Hardcover)
by (shelved 45 times as poverty)
avg rating 4.46 — 1,991,826 ratings — published 2018
Trash (Hardcover)
by (shelved 43 times as poverty)
avg rating 3.57 — 15,611 ratings — published 2010
Les Misérables (Mass Market Paperback)
by (shelved 41 times as poverty)
avg rating 4.22 — 868,636 ratings — published 1862
Eleanor & Park (Hardcover)
by (shelved 41 times as poverty)
avg rating 3.92 — 1,285,566 ratings — published 2012
Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty (Hardcover)
by (shelved 41 times as poverty)
avg rating 4.08 — 67,858 ratings — published 2012
The White Tiger (Hardcover)
by (shelved 41 times as poverty)
avg rating 3.77 — 207,382 ratings — published 2008
The Other America: Poverty in the United States (Paperback)
by (shelved 40 times as poverty)
avg rating 4.06 — 1,244 ratings — published 1962
Crime and Punishment (Paperback)
by (shelved 40 times as poverty)
avg rating 4.29 — 1,170,540 ratings — published 1866
Shuggie Bain (Hardcover)
by (shelved 40 times as poverty)
avg rating 4.30 — 209,186 ratings — published 2020
The Hate U Give (Hardcover)
by (shelved 40 times as poverty)
avg rating 4.44 — 1,047,734 ratings — published 2017
“Close your eyes, Maxon."
"What?"
"Close your eyes.
Somewhere in this palace, there is a woman who will be your wife. This girl? Imagine that she depends on you. She needs you to cherish her and make her feel like the Selection didn't even happen. Like if you were dropped in your own out in the middle of the country to wander around door to door, she's still the one you would have found. She was always the one you would have picked. She needs you to provide for her and protect her. And if it came to a point where there was absolutely nothing to eat, and you couldn't even fall asleep at night because the sound of her stomach growling kept you awake—"
"Stop it!"
"Sorry."
"Is that really what it's like? Out there... does that happen? Are people hungry like that a lot?"
"Maxon, I..."
"Tell me the truth."
"Yes. That happens. I know of families where people give up their share for their children or siblings. I know of a boy who was whipped in the town square for stealing food. Sometimes you do crazy things when you are desperate."
"A boy? How old?"
"Nine."
"Have you ever been like that? Starving?...How bad?"
"Maxon, it will only upset you more."
"Probably, but I'm only starting to realize how much I don't know about my own country. Please."
"We've been pretty bad. Most time if it gets to where we have to choose, we keep the food and lose electricity. The worst was when it happened near Christmas one year. May didn't understand why we couldn't exchange gifts. As a general rule, there are never any leftovers at my house. Someone always wants more. I know the checks we've gotten over the last few weeks have really helped, and my family is really smart about money. I'm sure they have already tucked it away so it will stretch out for a long time. You've done so much for us, Maxon."
"Good God. When you said that you were only here for the food, you weren't kidding, were you?"
"Really, Maxon, we've been doing pretty well lately. I—"
"I'll see you at dinner.”
― The Selection
"What?"
"Close your eyes.
Somewhere in this palace, there is a woman who will be your wife. This girl? Imagine that she depends on you. She needs you to cherish her and make her feel like the Selection didn't even happen. Like if you were dropped in your own out in the middle of the country to wander around door to door, she's still the one you would have found. She was always the one you would have picked. She needs you to provide for her and protect her. And if it came to a point where there was absolutely nothing to eat, and you couldn't even fall asleep at night because the sound of her stomach growling kept you awake—"
"Stop it!"
"Sorry."
"Is that really what it's like? Out there... does that happen? Are people hungry like that a lot?"
"Maxon, I..."
"Tell me the truth."
"Yes. That happens. I know of families where people give up their share for their children or siblings. I know of a boy who was whipped in the town square for stealing food. Sometimes you do crazy things when you are desperate."
"A boy? How old?"
"Nine."
"Have you ever been like that? Starving?...How bad?"
"Maxon, it will only upset you more."
"Probably, but I'm only starting to realize how much I don't know about my own country. Please."
"We've been pretty bad. Most time if it gets to where we have to choose, we keep the food and lose electricity. The worst was when it happened near Christmas one year. May didn't understand why we couldn't exchange gifts. As a general rule, there are never any leftovers at my house. Someone always wants more. I know the checks we've gotten over the last few weeks have really helped, and my family is really smart about money. I'm sure they have already tucked it away so it will stretch out for a long time. You've done so much for us, Maxon."
"Good God. When you said that you were only here for the food, you weren't kidding, were you?"
"Really, Maxon, we've been doing pretty well lately. I—"
"I'll see you at dinner.”
― The Selection
“I had noticed that both in the very poor and very rich extremes of society the mad were often allowed to mingle freely.”
― Ham on Rye
― Ham on Rye












