Best of
Poverty

2001

Beatrice's Goat


Page McBrier - 2001
    But in her small African village, only children who can afford uniforms and books can go to school. Beatrice knows that with six children to care for, her family is much too poor. But then Beatrice receives a wonderful gift from some people far away -- a goat! Fat and sleek as a ripe mango, Mugisa (which means "luck") gives milk that Beatrice can sell. With Mugisa's help, it looks as if Beatrice's dream may come true after all.Page McBrier and Lori Lohstoeter beautifully recount this true story about how one child, given the right tools, is able to lift her family out of poverty. Thanks to Heifer Project International -- a charitable organization that donates livestock to poor communities around the world -- other families like Beatrice's will also have a chance to change their lives.

Money Hungry


Sharon G. Flake - 2001
    All thirteen-year-old Raspberry can think of is making money so that she and her mother never have to worry about living on the streets again.

Rent Party Jazz


William Miller - 2001
    When Mama loses her job, Sonny is worried. Rent day is coming soon, and if they miss paying by just one day, the landlord will put them out on the street and sell off their belongings. Sonny wanders sadly through Jackson Square after school one day. His attention is caught by Smilin' Jack, a popular jazz musician. Sonny returns day after day, and soon finds himself explaining his problem to Smilin' Jack. What Smilin' Jack offers Sonny then--how to raise money for the rent while having the world's best party--changes both their lives forever.

Martin Luther King: The Essential Box Set: The Landmark Speeches and Sermons of Martin Luther King, Jr.


Clayborne Carson - 2001
    Martin Luther King, Jr. His words stirred a generation to change--and outlined a timeless, practical way to economic freedom and true democracy. Compiled by Dr. Clayborne Carson, director of the King Papers Project, and editor Kris Shepard, this is a milestone collection of Dr. King's most influential, best-known speeches...from the words that ignited the modern civil rights movement to the last, transcendent speech the night before Dr. King's assassination. Filled with world-renowned leaders' priceless firsthand testimony of the events that inspired these speeches, A CALL TO CONSCIENCE is a living, unforgettable record of the words that even today shape our deepest hopes and dreams for the future.

Hearts and Hands: Creating Community in Violent Times


Luis J. Rodríguez - 2001
    Empowered by his experiences as a peacemaker with gangs in Los Angeles and Chicago, Rodríguez offers a unique book of change. He makes concrete suggestions, shows how we can create nonviolent opportunities for youth today, and redirects kids into productive and satisfying lives. And he warns that we sacrifice community values for material gain when we incarcerate or marginalize people already on the edge of society. His interest in dissolving gang influence on black and latino kids is personal as well as societal; his son, to whom he dedicates Hearts and Hands, is currently serving a prison sentence for gang-related activity. With anecdotes, interviews, and time-tested guidelines, Hearts and Hands makes a powerful argument for building and supporting community life.

Wrestling with the Angel


Michael King - 2001
    This book shows how, despite the overwhelming unhappiness of her childhood, Janet Frame climbed out of an abyss to take control of her life and become one of the great writers of her time.

Discipling Nations: The Power of Truth to Transform Cultures


Darrow L. Miller - 2001
    But what of the darkness and poverty that enslave entire cultures, even nations? Have Christians underestimated the power of God's truth to transform entire societies? In Discipling Nations, Darrow Miller builds a powerful and convincing thesis that God's truth not only breaks the spiritual bonds of sin and death but can free whole societies from deception and poverty. Discipling Nations will challenge, reenergize, and reequip Christians everywhere who labor to see "His kingdom come, His will be done."

The Christmas Barn


C.L. Davis - 2001
    Based on the author's own family experience.

Beggars and Choosers


Rickie Solinger - 2001
    But after Roe v. Wade, their determination to develop a respectable, nonconfrontational movement encouraged many of them to use the word choice--an easier concept for people weary of various rights movements. At first the distinction in language didn't seem to make much difference-the law seemed to guarantee both. But in the years since, the change has become enormously important.In Beggars and Choosers, Solinger shows how historical distinctions between women of color and white women, between poor and middle-class women, were used in new ways during the era of "choice." Politicians and policy makers began to exclude certain women from the class of "deserving mothers" by using the language of choice to create new public policies concerning everything from Medicaid funding for abortions to family tax credits, infertility treatments, international adoption, teen pregnancy, and welfare. Solinger argues that the class-and-race-inflected guarantee of "choice" is a shaky foundation on which to build our notions of reproductive freedom. Her impassioned argument is for reproductive rights as human rights--as a basis for full citizenship status for women.

A Castle on Viola Street


DyAnne DiSalvo-Ryan - 2001
    Such houses seem like castles to him.But when he hears about an organization that turns abandoned houses into homes, he discovers that his castle isn't in the clouds--it's on Viola Street. And with some hard work and community caring, it could be his very own.DyAnne DiSalvo combines new faces with familiar ones from earlier stories in this warm, vibrant tale about the good things that come when a whole family pitches in to make a better life for themselves.

Welfare Racism: Playing the Race Card Against America's Poor


Kenneth Neubeck - 2001
    Through historical and present-day analysis, the authors show how race-based attitudes, policy making, and administrative policies have long had a negative impact on public assistance programs. The book adds an important and controversial voice to the current welfare debates surrounding the recent legilation that abolished the AFDC.

The Politics of the Urban Poor in Early Twentieth-Century India


Nandini Gooptu - 2001
    By focusing on the role of the poor in caste, religious and national politics, the author demonstrates how they emerged as a major social factor in South Asia during the interwar period. The empirical material provides compelling insights into what it meant to be poor and how the impoverished dealt with their predicament. In this way, the book contributes to some of the most crucial debates on the nature of subaltern politics and consciousness.