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Reviews
Fire in the Ashes: Twenty-Five Years Among the Poorest Children in America by Jonathan Kozol
lalaoblivion's review
5.0
This was one of the best books I have read in a while. It was so informative, so eye opening, and-while truly depressing at times-offered a lot of hope for what could happen if things change, not just in the South Bronx, but for inner city kids everywhere.
jetia13's review against another edition
2.0
I may have enjoyed this more if I had read any of Kozol's previous books, as it seemed like a bit of a "reunion" where I didn't know any one. It achieved a good balance of inspiring and not-so-inspiring stories. Still quite guilt inducing though.
erinbbookclub's review
5.0
I <3 Jonathan Kozol's work- it leaves me feeling inspired. This book made me both question everything and want to do more.
calypsogilstrap's review
4.0
Antidotal evidence that inspires me as a teacher! If everyone read this book with an open mind, America would be a better place.
leafthroughmypages's review
5.0
4.5- great book about good people. wish it had more answers, but I guess we must work until we find them together.
kymme's review
3.0
I think everyone who majors in education reads Kozol's Savage Inequalities, so teacher friends are likely at least somewhat familiar with the author. [[And that book should be required reading for anyone seeking to change education (hint: not much has changed, structurally speaking, since that seminal text).]]
Unlike SI, this book isn't directly about the schools, though they're mentioned here; rather, here Kozol writes about several of the families in New York he did research on for some of his books over the years. I didn't know that Kozol had kept up a lifelong friendship with the people he's studied, and I didn't know that he was a fulltime author. In some ways the stories are (predictably, perhaps) depressing--there are gang-related deaths and poverty and children who are raped in stairwells in their apartment buildings, or molested by family members; there are schools where children are sent to in-school suspension in rooms that are basically cages; there are families who "make it out" of the projects but are forever chased by problems rooted in their pasts. Some of the people die, and many of the people have undeniably shitty lives. And yet in other ways, the stories are uplifting--there are children who end up with good educations, usually by winning scholarships to fancy boarding schools rather than having to attend their abysmal local public schools; there are those who find success in small ways, or what Kozol calls "vocations" when they don't find good jobs but do find good uses for their time; there is a dedicated minister serving as counselor, financial advisor, educator, mom, and childcare provider; there are those who find happiness and offer others hope and help despite circumstances far beyond what I would call challenging.
Kozol is at once optimistic and dejected. He offers no quick solutions, and recognizes the complexity of tackling the variety of issues at play in the lives of the people about whom he writes. But his heart is with them, and through his loving attention, readers access a world most otherwise couldn't know at all. And ultimately that is the gift of this book.
Unlike SI, this book isn't directly about the schools, though they're mentioned here; rather, here Kozol writes about several of the families in New York he did research on for some of his books over the years. I didn't know that Kozol had kept up a lifelong friendship with the people he's studied, and I didn't know that he was a fulltime author. In some ways the stories are (predictably, perhaps) depressing--there are gang-related deaths and poverty and children who are raped in stairwells in their apartment buildings, or molested by family members; there are schools where children are sent to in-school suspension in rooms that are basically cages; there are families who "make it out" of the projects but are forever chased by problems rooted in their pasts. Some of the people die, and many of the people have undeniably shitty lives. And yet in other ways, the stories are uplifting--there are children who end up with good educations, usually by winning scholarships to fancy boarding schools rather than having to attend their abysmal local public schools; there are those who find success in small ways, or what Kozol calls "vocations" when they don't find good jobs but do find good uses for their time; there is a dedicated minister serving as counselor, financial advisor, educator, mom, and childcare provider; there are those who find happiness and offer others hope and help despite circumstances far beyond what I would call challenging.
Kozol is at once optimistic and dejected. He offers no quick solutions, and recognizes the complexity of tackling the variety of issues at play in the lives of the people about whom he writes. But his heart is with them, and through his loving attention, readers access a world most otherwise couldn't know at all. And ultimately that is the gift of this book.
pjvana's review
4.0
A really amazing look at poverty in New York City - specifically at the effects upon children from the mid 1980s to the present.
snowyshoes's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
5.0
every couple of chapter wad the story of a new family. I geneuinley enjoyed this book and found the stories inside deeply inspiring and heartbreakingly real. it takes quite a bit to shale me, but I found myself having to take breaks from this book because of the horrors it describes so frankly. the matter of fact way it tells of injustices and sorrow is compelling and fascinating. it really is a reminder that you cant save everyone, nor is thst your job. this book is inspiring and heart wrenching. I have thought about it almost every day since reading it months ago