Eden, Kentucky, is just another dying, bad-luck town, known only for the legend of E. Starling, the reclusive nineteenth-century author and illustrator who wrote "The Underland" -- and disappeared. Before she vanished, Starling House appeared. But everyone agrees that it's best to let the uncanny house and its last lonely heir, Arthur Starling go to rot ... Opal is a lot of things--orphan, high school dropout, full-time cynic and part-time cashier--but...

Heather Ream is a gifted child at the center of a family bound by love but trapped in a cycle of dysfunction. Living in the projects in Knoxville, Tennessee, Heather's mother approaches life with a vivacious ferocity that's both awe-inspiring, and terrifying. Heather's father is the gentle heart of the family, a former Christian-pastor-turned-artist who whispers awake the creative soul of his young daughter. When a stunning tragedy splits the family...

Kensington, Philadelphia, is distinguished only by its poverty. It is home to Ryan, Giancarlos, and Emmanuel, three Puerto Rican children who live among the most marginalized children and families in the United States. This is their coming-of-age story. It is also the story of families beset by violence-the violence of homelessness, hunger, incarceration, stray bullets, sexual and physical assault, the hypermasculine logic of the streets, and the...

This book tells the stories of forty New Englanders who were forced ('warned out') to leave various communities in Rhode Island. Their stories are typical of what happened to the poor, homeless, and vagrant in other New England communities in the 18th century.

"Everybody was rooting for Jonathan Conyers after seeing his profile on Humans of New York went viral and sparked millions in donations to the Brooklyn Debate League. The kid who went from struggling to read to being a breakout star on his high school debate team, thanks to a life-changing friendship with his transgender debate coach, captured the heart of America. Jonathan's story highlights the important role teachers play in opening up worlds of...

Through engaged ethnographic research, deep historical understanding and riveting storytelling, three of the nation's top researchers provide a sweeping and surprising new understanding of America's places of the most extreme poverty, shedding new light on deep disadvantage that must shape a new War on Poverty.

When Stephanie Land set out to write her memoir Maid, she never could have imagined what was to come. Handpicked by President Barack Obama as one of the best books of 2019, it was called "an eye-opening journey into the lives of the working poor" (People). Later it was adapted into the hit Netflix series Maid, which was viewed by 67 million households and was Netflix's fourth most-watched show in 2021, garnering three Primetime Emmy Award nominations....