Our America

Rating:
Summary: Amazing! - a must read
Review: This book is one of the most amazing books I have read. It targets what it is like for a child to grow up in such trying times and tragic circumstances. I have personally spoken with LeAllan after reading this book. Hearing that he is now attending college in Folrida, and is doing well majoring in criminal justice, while supporting his schooling through funding provided by his book tours, and speeches, makes me hopeful that we can make a difference in a childs life if we just give them a chance. This book gave Leallan wings, and with them he has flown to the moon!

Rating:
Summary: Our America : Life and Death on the South Side of Chicago
Review: This is a very heart-wrenching, brutally honest insight into everyday lives in inner-city projects. Includes pictures of the buildings they live in and their friends and family members.
It is so well written that you feel as if you are there with them.
You will not want to put this book down. Took me only 3 evenings after work to finish reading.

Rating:
Summary: Our America : Life and Death on the South Side of Chicago
Review: This is a very heart-wrenching, brutally honest insight into everyday lives in inner-city projects. Includes pictures of the buildings they live in and their friends and family members.
It is so well written that you feel as if you are there with them.
You will not want to put this book down. Took me only 3 evenings after work to finish reading.

Rating:
Summary: Amazing
Review: This is amazing it really tells the story of life for inter city children in Chicago it holds nothing back everyone should read this book

Rating:
Summary: Powerful first-person account
Review: This remarkable firsthand account of life in Chicago's troubled public housing is well worth reading. Armed with a free tape recorder, teenagers Lealan Jones and Lloyd Newman went on assignment for National Public Radio at age 13 in 1993 and again in 1996. Jones and Newman interviewed relatives, neighbors, friends and each other about life in the notorious Ida B. Wells public housing. Readers sense the tragedy and hopelessness of life in the projects, as well as the hope and sense of community that also exists. Jones and Newman also report on the aftermath of the tragic killing of Eric Morse, a 5-year old who was thrown from a 14th floor window (for refusing to steal) in a crime that made national headlines. Many will prefer these firsthand accounts to the drier writings of sociologists and other outside "experts." The editors appear to have altered the black street language into a somewhat more "standard" English, but the words retain their power. Jones and Newman did an outstanding job, and prove once again that impressive people often come from humble backgrounds.

OUR AMERICA has been made into an HBO movie, Newman apparently survived a dangerous beating (unrelated to this book), and Jones has even taught this book to high school students - he even lists his email address in a review in these web pages. This book is concise, readable, and very affecting.

Rating:
Summary: Powerful first-person account
Review: This remarkable firsthand account of life in Chicago's troubled public housing is well worth reading. Armed with a free tape recorder, teenagers Lealan Jones and Lloyd Newman went on assignment for National Public Radio at age 13 in 1993 and again in 1996. Jones and Newman interviewed relatives, neighbors, friends and each other about life in the notorious Ida B. Wells public housing. Readers sense the tragedy and hopelessness of life in the projects, as well as the hope and sense of community that also exists. Jones and Newman also report on the aftermath of the tragic killing of Eric Morse, a 5-year old who was thrown from a 14th floor window (for refusing to steal) in a crime that made national headlines. Many will prefer these firsthand accounts to the drier writings of sociologists and other outside "experts." The editors appear to have altered the black street language into a somewhat more "standard" English, but the words retain their power. Jones and Newman did an outstanding job, and prove once again that impressive people often come from humble backgrounds.

OUR AMERICA has been made into an HBO movie, Newman apparently survived a dangerous beating (unrelated to this book), and Jones has even taught this book to high school students - he even lists his email address in a review in these web pages. This book is concise, readable, and very affecting.

Rating:
Summary: This is one of the most powerful books I have ever read.
Review: Though I was required to read this book for a course I took, and therefore supposed to be reading and analyzing it over a week's time, I found myself reading the entire book in one sitting. This book shows the unfamiliar reader what poverty really is, how it thinks, acts, looks like, and feels from the words and experiences of children. LeAlan and Lloyd are children growing up in a very adult world, and one is reminded just how young they actually are when you listen to the recordings of their initial broadcasts. Knowing that they and their families are real people, how can you read this book and feel nothing? The tragic part is, those who most need their eyes opened to the state of poverty and violence in our nation will most likely never read this book. For those of us who do, may your eyes be a little wider, your heart a little deeper, and your spirit be called to action.

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic From Start To Finish. Where's the Sequel?
Review: What makes this book so moving is the complete lack of any pretense. The authors are two young boys who are living what they are talking about. There's no apologetic, politically correct nonsense from university sociologists to clog it up. The inclusion of the photographs just make the book more vivid and memorable. Recommended without reservation!

Rating:
Summary: OUR AMERICA Life and Death on the South Side of Chicago
Review: Your America may be a bit different from LeAlan Jones's and Lioyd Newman's...welcome to theirs. These young men bring you into their community were you find yourself laughing at time and then wanting to reach out and save them. This reading is not sugar coated...your heart will break. LeAlan and Lloyd have used thier power to speak, listen to what they have to say! Then you will be blessed with John Brook, the talented young photographer whose images grace these pages of this outstanding book.

I have great respect for these men in this book for they are our future. Chicago, my home, is a better please because of these talented men...Continue to speak with your mighty voices.