Amazing Grace : Lives of Children and the Conscience of a Nation, The

Rating:
Summary: It doesn't get any better.
Review: Five measly stars could not even begin to do this book justice. Living in the city, and working with poor children, this book had no trouble wrenching my heart. Forget about stars- count the number of tears you shed reading it.

Rating:
Summary: Overrated!
Review: I have to disagree with the rave reviews this has received. Though Kozol has undertaken a book on a lofty and worthwhile topic his treatise on poverty in the South Bronx is a disappointing, self-conscious soapbox report, which I liken to a teenager's first person school essay. This is hardly the stuff of a great writer. It seems as though people are more impressed with the subject than they are the literary prowess with which Kozol writes; there is nothing extraordinary in his writing, nothing at all. Bad job.

Rating:
Summary: The best book I have read in years!
Review: Kozol's Amizing Grace's by far one of the best books I have read in a long time! The way Kozol brings the people of Mott Haven to life through his interviews and research is amazing. This book make you sit back and thank God that you are as lucky as you are and to be thankful for what you have. Kozol make us as a nation look at what we are doing to our children and our minorities and asks why? What is the purpose for this? Do these people deserve this treatment? An over all GREAT book!

Rating:
Summary: A must-read for a better nation
Review: This book is a must read. It is an eye-opening account of life in Mott Haven, a veritable trash can were the very neediest of Americans are tossed by the very greediest. A place where the basic human rights, guaranteed by just being human, are not met. Mr. Kozol brings to light the atrocious living conditions and blatant injustices that exist in our own backyard. This is not in a far off country, but in the United States, where we pride ourselves on "liberty and justice for all". Kozol makes us realize that this statement is true only for those of us lucky enough not to be trapped in the web of injustice. If everyone were to read this book, I believe America would be a much better place, for we would be compelled to serve those less fortunate than ourselves. This was easily the best and most inspiring book I've ever read.

Rating:
Summary: Where is our conscience?
Review: Kozol's real life acounts of deprivation and despair in the Bronx, affronts the reader. Where is our conscience? How do we let kids in America suffer so? Despite the wealth and prestige of the world's only superpower, there are children living in sub-third world conditions, and few polititians are really sincerely addressing this shame. Kozol offers no solutions, just stark examples. Recommended reading, especially for those not living in squalor.

Rating:
Summary: Hope and futility amidst grim survival
Review: In Amazing Grace, sociologist Jonathan Kozol narrates a year in the lives of his friends living in the South Bronx. Neglected by the general populace, segregated by the government, and vilified by the press, the mostly black and Hispanic residents must rely upon each other to provide comfort and support. Parents, teachers, and ministers work daily to protect their children from their deadly surroundings. But in a world where it is dangerous inside buildings filled with lead paint, open elevator shafts, fires, and rats, and even more dangerous outside among the gangs, drug addicts, poisonous air, and drive-by shootings, children aspire to the lofty goal of perhaps surviving until adulthood, or if they do not, reaching a place where their earthly woes will be forgotten. The children of Amazing Grace dream of heaven while they live in hell. In this poignant book, Kozol soberly points out profound inequities that many Americans would prefer to forget. Readers of Amazing Grace will not be able to disregard the heartbroken people quoted herein, and will come away asking themselves some difficult questions: How can we doom these sweet children to an unrelenting life of fear and danger? How can we ignore these pleading parents who only want their children to be safe and happy? And how can the haves of America go on shutting out the voices of these intelligent, warm, and brave have-nots?

Rating:
Summary: An "uncomfortable" view of the invisible urban underclass
Review: Kozol never loses the reader's interest in that he not only refutes ultra-conservative theory through his own observations, but allows the underclass to refute such theory through his interviews. Kozol is sensative to those he interviews, but shows no reluctance to seek the truth about life in the South Bronx. The reader will find it difficult to read this book with a low eyebrow as Kozol describes the conditions in poor New York City hospitals, the daily occurance of substance abuse, violent crime, and the harsh words spoken by politicians and "educated" theorists. The author does not bore the reader with excessive theory, but uses dialog to show the gap between theory and real life. This is a book which can understood and appreciated by populations from all reading levels and backgrounds.

Rating:
Summary: Brought back memories of teaching in Mott Haven
Review: I taught for two years in Mott Haven at P.S. 65 and am familiar with many of the children, adults and teachers Kozol met while researching his book. Through this book I learned that the younger brother of one of my students died because of a broken elevator door. A great little kid, smart and cute. Just like the hundreds of other kids I knew whose moments of happiness were so beautiful because the chances of their happiness lasting were so slight. Kozol introduces you to these kids; you may not sleep well because of this book, but its worth the introduction

Rating:
Summary: The children of the South Bronx
Review: Amazing Grace by Jonothan Kozol takes as its theme the simple but fervent religious faith and hope held by the children of the South Bronx, an area so utterly forlorn that hope would seem to be impossible. Kozol describes, in a readable yet stark manner, the omniprescence of violence and death in this ghetto. As he spends nearly a year talking with varied people- a tough love grandmother, the Wall Street lawyer turned minister, a poet, and so many unforgettable children, the reader sees them as more than mere statistics. Kozol does not offer solutions to the intractable "ghetto problem"; rather, he lets his descriptions of inner-city life speak for themselves. Ultimately, to his readers in this supposedly Judeo-Christian country, he poses this moral problem: "How does a nation deal with those whom it has cursed?" This is an important and unforgettable book.

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