👶👶👶 There are No Children Here, by Alex Kotlowitz

This novel was both eye-opening and gut-wrenching. I found myself rooting for these sweet boys in hopes that they would make it out of their tenebrous situation. By the end of the novel, I felt defeated (as I'm sure these children felt most of their lives). Mr. Kotlowitz brings to life a very harsh reality, namely the cycle of poverty in the lower income families in the United States. There comes a point at which their dismal living conditions, poor education, and lack of income, become perpetual, facilitated by both internal and external factors.

Sadly, at some point, most of these children give up their dreams because of the unremitting horrors of their daily life, turn to drug dealing, and often end up addicted, themselves. The author did a fine job of immersing the reader into this sad existence, one that is so foreign to a significant percentage of the United States population. I felt Lafayette and Pharoah's despair as they lived each day in fear for their own lives, and felt myself sliding with them, down the slippery slope of hopelessness.

So, although this is certainly not an uplifting novel, it is a meaningful one, and one that served as a catalyst for change back in the 1980's. Bravo, Mr. Kotlowitz!

Read 8/12/15