Henry Horner Projects as photographed, B. Sloane, July 28, 2005
A colleague mentioned There Are No Children Here written by Alex Kotlowitz and published in 1991. The book stemmed first from a brief essay written by the author to accompany a photo essay published in Chicago magazine in 1985. Two years later Kotlowitz wrote a longer piece about children in poverty for The Wall Street Journal. The book followed that article.
In the introduction, Kotlowitz states his hope that publication of the book might help reduce the staggering rate of twenty-percent of children in the United States living in poverty. It is unfortunate to note that during the ensuing twenty years since the publication of There Are No Children Here, that rate has not declined. As of 2011, the rate of children living in poverty in the U.S. remains at least twenty-percent. I am not hopeful given current policies and practices that the figure will decrease any time soon.
For more information about this book, see the Shelf Renewal Blog from Library Journal at http://blog.libraryjournal.com/shelfrenewal/2010/11/16/dusty-book-there-are-no-children-here-the-story-of-two-boys-growing-up-in-the-other-america-by-alex-kotlowitz/comment-page-1/#comment-17380
For more information about the Henry Horner Projects featured in the story and the above photograph, please visit City Noise. http://citynoise.org/article/1727
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