Publication

1995 - Crown, New York, New York (State)

Language

English

Word Count

71,500 words, Guess

Page Count

286 pages

Identifiers

and 2 more
  • Goodreads1862009
  • LibraryThing3461

Classifications

  • DDC362.7/09747/1
  • LCCHV885.N5 K69 1995

Description

Amazing Grace is a book about the hearts of children who grow up in the South Bronx - the poorest congressional district of our nation. Without rhetoric, but drawing extensively upon the words of children, parents, and priests, this book does not romanticize or soften the effects of violence and sickness. One fourth of the child-bearing women in the neighborhoods where these children live test positive for HIV. Pediatric AIDS, life-consuming fires, and gang rivalries take a high toll. Several children die during the year in which this narrative takes place. Although it is a gently written work, Amazing Grace makes clear that the postmodern ghetto of America is not a social accident but is created and sustained by greed, neglect, racism, and expedience. It asks us questions that are, at once, political and theological. What is the value of a child's life? What exactly do we plan to do with those whom we appear to have defined as economically and humanly superfluous? How tough do we dare to be?

First Sentence

The Number 6 train from Manhattan to the South Bronx makes nine stops in the 18-min ride between East 59th Street and Brook Avenue.

Excerpt

The Number 6 train from Manhattan to the South Bronx makes nine stops in the 18-min ride between East 59th Street and Brook Avenue.

Subjects

Topics

PoorKindChildPovertyChildrenMinoritiesPhysiology

Places

New YorkNew York (State)N.Y.) Mott Haven (New YorkMott Haven (New York, N.Y.)

Other Editions

  • Amazing grace: the lives of children and the conscience of a nationCrown1995-01-01
Show 2 more editions

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