Jacket cover–Our Kids

During my travels last week, I whiled away quite a few hours in airports and airplanes reading Our Kids:  The American Dream in Crisis by Robert Putnam.  In it, he talks about the growing opportunity gap between economic classes.  Kids who have economic privilege have access to more extra-curricular opportunities, more informal mentors, more social safety nets and support than ever before.  Kids who grow up in poverty are increasingly isolated from these opportunities, as fees for extra-curricular activities increase and segregation based on economic class grows.  According to Putnam, there used to be more of an attitude that all kids were the community’s responsibility–Our Kids.  Now, he says, families in the upper income brackets are not even aware of the kids living in poverty in their community because their circles never intersect.  I think he paints too rosy a picture of the past, particularly with regard to race, but the statistics he cites about opportunities, graduation rates, and college matriculation are stark.  I found a lot to think about in this book, and I recommend it for librarians who are thinking about what needs to happen to even the playing field for all the kids in their community.