Amazing Grace

Rating:
Summary: problems
Review: I was a 16-year-old self-described "liberal." Second in command at my school's Amnesty International chapter. I had spent some time volunteering in an inner-city neighborhood with children, but wasn't particularly passionate about it. A teacher recommended this book to me and I devoured it, staying up all night to finish it. It's an inspiring kick in the pants and I urge anyone, but ESPECIALLY young people, to READ THIS BOOK. It moved me to get more involved in social justice work, and that has truly shaped my life.

Rating:
Summary: problems
Review: Kozol has well-documented problems with plagiarism, so why bother?

Rating:
Summary: If you are not moved by this book, something is wrong
Review: Never in my life have I cried so many times reading one book. What terrifies me is that a book like this can exist, yet nothing happens. When "How the Other Half Lives" appeared a century ago, there was public shock and outcry like you would not believe. Now we have "Amazing Grace," yet people are still cheerfully entertaining notions of school vouchers, welfare "reform," and other continued assaults against the poor. Companies like Philip Morris put ads in magazines touting their contributions to community food banks, as if that's something to be proud of. Hey, how about paying enough taxes so poor people can buy their own food? But, in a way, there's no point in even saying these things. The book itself seems to sense that things have gone too far, that some kind of invisible line has been crossed. "I've never lived through a time as cold as this in America," writes Kozol. But every time a child is born, we do have a chance to start over and get it right this time. Read this book and allow your heart to be changed.

Rating:
Summary: Amazing Children
Review: This book is richly intense with the tragic conversations of daily life from residents of South Bronx, New York. The book does not over dramatize life's realities. It gives the reader an honest view of reality of the lives of many children and adults that somehow go beyond surviving their rigorous obstacles of their environment. It does not describe life in a third world country nor the lives of people that lived in another century. It discusses the present day lives of children and their families. Kozol embarked in a journey of interviews and conversations that did not merely describe the mundane lives of residents from the South Bronx. In his writing he does not overwhelm the reader withhis own personal opinions regarding the political arena that keeps the poor at risk residents, poor and at risk. On the contrary, he brings voices to life in a manner that is respectful and validates those that take the time to share their story. I am not proficient in the art of interviewing nor in the degree of listening that Kozol takes to truly present these stories honestly. He shares exactly what is presented to him. I was impressed with his own self acknowledgment of how these stories and experiences have changed his own perspective of people and their sturggle for daily survival. The stories are from children, mothers and grandmothers who have ended up living in the neighborhoods of South Bronx. The neighborhoods visited are described as grotesquely infested with gangs, drugs, prostitution and homicide. Yet, in the middle of these illicit activities, there are sanctuaries that share in protecting children of the community. Amazingly these children show a strong sense of hope and caring that touches the heart of those around them. Their resilience is remarkable and encouraging. It should motivate us to listen more and honor the many stories children carry with them everyday.

Rating:
Summary: A challenge with no suggested response.
Review: This book is shocking, enlightening, and frightening. As someone who cares deeply about children and their success in our world I found myself frustrated and appalled by the tragic, hopeless lives portrayed in these pages. Through the entire book Mr. Kozol throws down the challenge to feel, care, and understand these children, but no where does he offer hope!

No innovative thoughts about changing these 'throw away' lives. No positive actions that anyone could take to help change the communities that support this cycle of degradation and failure.

His words are powerful. They paint images in your mind that can keep you up at night and cause you to thank God for your little midwestern ranch style home in a quiet neighborhood.

These images can also continue to haunt your thoughts and leave you wondering how tomorrow can be improved for another generation of children living in these inner city neighborhoods. How can we ever hope to create a strong nation when we knowlingly let children fall through any existing support systems.

I'm more aware now, but I feel a new hopelessness about the future. I'm not sure that was his intended response, but if it was, it's a little like shock video and not very constructive.

Rating:
Summary: Pretty good...but has some issues.
Review: Wake up people. Feel guilty and do something about it after reading this. Read it.

Rating:
Summary: Enlightening and moving
Review: When the author was talking to "Mrs. Flowers" about the fate of the children in the South Bronx she mentions the many reporters who have come to discuss the same issues with her and he asks, "do you ever get sick of seeing all these people knocking at your door year after year to pick your brain?" She answers, "no, I don't get sick of it because a lot of the m have been nice people. The trouble is: You answer their questions and you give them your opinions. They collect your story from you. Then you see it and you read it and you think, 'Good'. But nothing happnes. It's just 'there' and then it drops. It's like they put you in a bucket like a wishing well. Only it's a wishing well where wishes don't come true."

If we walk away from this book without a change in behaviour, we do the same as all those reporters did to Mrs. Flowers. I hope the reader will be compelled to act because of reading the words of some of these amazing children. We need to fight the tax cuts that make these familes live in rat infested housing and wait for 3 days in the emergency room to get treatment for AIDS related illnesses. We can't sit back and wish they had never been born, or wish them away. This may have been an editment of "welfare as we knew it" but it will teach us that "welfare as we know it now" is no better and still needs to be fixed, along with education, health care, law enforcement, parks and recreation policies, tax law, the penal institutions, racism....