Our America: Life and Death on the South Side of Chicago

I really didn't expect that much when I started reading this book. After all, it's a rather slim volume at only about 200 pages. And it covers pretty much the same ground as Alex Kotlowitz's There Are No Children Here, which is already an outstanding, in depth, personal accounting of life in the south side of Chicago in the "projects". It's just two grade school kids for authors, after all. This could only be a "kids" abridged version of the other book, right? Oh, but it was so much more. First of all, these are extraordinarily perceptive youngsters. They see the life around them extremely clearly, and they are masterful at getting at the very essence of what they see and hear and live. At times, the book is almost like reading a show more "favorite quotations" book but, in this case, with all the quotations drawn logically and tightly together into a common theme and purpose. Moreover, this book does one other thing that Kotlowitz's book had not done for me. It shows just how clearly the people in the "ghetto" see their situation, how much they all want out of it, and how totally set against them the forces of society are to let them go free. Again, this is not simplistic ideas. It is sophisticated thought expressed very succinctly. Would I have gotten as much out of this book if I hadn't already read Kotlowitz and others? Maybe not, but I still think the book stands very well on it's own. show less

What I really liked about this book is that it was told from a child's point of view. We hear a lot from people who have survived "the ghetto" or from people who have worked with people in "the ghetto", but I thought it fascinating to hear what a teenager who was actually experiencing it (not reflecting on it later. It was a good portrait of the neighborhood in the mid-'90s... I wonder how the story would be currently? Worse? Better?

Radio transcripts recorded by teenagers and turned into a nonfiction novel about the Ida B. Wells projects and the tragic death of Eric Morse. There are also pictures that accompany the content of the book. This disturbing look at poverty and racism in America wakes the consciousness of the reader. It also makes the readers question the culpability of the youngest murders in American history at the time. There are some graphic language and elements in the narration.

This book was a suggestion from a friend who teaches English outside of Chicago. It is one of her students' favorites. The storytellers are courageous innovators, and they share their truths and experiences honestly.

So good. Very inspiring. Read for a Afro-American Studies 156: Black Music & History at UW-Madison