There are no suggestions from him on how these boys, their mother, and their five siblings can turn their lives around without simply expecting the government to intervene. And what about their mother? How can a woman have seven children with a drug addict and not realize at some point that she herself is condemning her children to a life of poverty, violence and constant struggle? Of course she wants her children to have the same things as any child deserves to have - a safe, happy childhood where there's always enough to eat and they don't have to worry about ducking their heads whenever they play outdoors - but what has she done to make that happen? Kotlowitz does nothing to address these questions or point the finger of blame at the parents of Lafayette, Pharaoh and their siblings for being a large part of the problem in the downfall of a civilized, humane way of life. He doesn't seem to hold the parents accountable for the actions, even when those actions clearly have devastating consequences. Was there never any thought to not having more children when it was clearly obvious it was impossible to even adequately care for the first one or two? Still, this book forces us to agree that yes, there is hopelessness, pain and incredible inequity in the...

Raising children (although it often seems as if the children are raising themselves) in such deplorable, criminal conditions can only lead to the children turning to crime themselves.
Kotlowitz gives us no other option than to accept that the drugs, gangs, violence and death that are a part of living in "the projects" are not just anonymous statistics. The children who must endure this life are real and they have the same dreams as any other kids. Their sad fate, however, is that they are without the means, resources or ability to realize those dreams. No child should live the way these boys live. Where most kids talk about their future plans by saying "When I grow up..." these boys recognize their own odds against ever reaching that point by saying "If I grow up..." Not only are there "no children here" (they have been robbed of their childhood), there is a very good chance that these boys will not ever be adults, either.