First published 1989
Jonathan Kozol enters the world of homeless families across America, focusing on mothers like Rachel who struggle to protect their children while living without shelter. He documents their daily battles for basic necessities and safety in a country that has failed to catch them when they fell. Through direct interviews and firsthand observation, Kozol records the voices of men, women, and children who have become refugees from the American Dream. These families move from shelter to shelter, city to city, fighting an hourly struggle for survival. The book captures their desperate circumstances and reveals how millions of Americans exist without a safety net. Kozol presents their stories as testimony that demands witnesses, showing how homelessness strips away dignity while families try to maintain hope and connection in impossible conditions.
Genres: american-fiction, social-issues, non-fiction, biography-memoir
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: social-commentary
Setting: America
Period: 20th-century, 21st-century
261 pages · Paperback · Ballantine Books