Review: Our Kids The American Dream in Crisis

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          I started reading this book, Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis, around a week ago and finished it  3 days ago. It's written by Robert D. Putnam, a professor of Public Policy at Harvard University. The book looks into how different it is two grow up in the America of today compared to that of 50 years ago, and whether the idea of the American Dream is still real today or just a myth.
          The structure of the books is discussing a different aspect of a child's bringing up and education and gives the reader two stories in each chapter - one of an affluent child growing up in an American city, and one of a poor child growing in that same city.
          This book gave me a lot of insight into what it's like to grow up in America with different incomes and parents with different educational backgrounds. The book also shows ways in which the government can help close the opportunity gap which exists in America, which wasn't as big 50 years ago. The author looks back on how he grew up in Port Clinton, Ohio and graduated high school from there in 1959. He talks about friends of his who weren't rich and those who weren't extremely affluent. He shows that although there were class and economic gaps between them, they didn't let it show and the kids did everything together. He also shows from the interview how today, in many cities, the poor and the rich never have any interactions and in a way, self segregate themselves into their own communities. An example of this in the text is: in the first chapter, the author talks about two of his friends growing up, Don and Libby,  who were at different ends of the socioeconomic scales, but were still close friends growing up and also had parents very involved in their lives. Then he discusses two kids in present-day Port Clinton, Chelsea and David. Chelsea had college-educated parents who were involved in her life. Her mom was always there to support her and push her to her potential. David's parents were in prison and he was in juvie most of the time growing up. By the age of 18, he had two children and no education. This showed me the theme of the text, which was how different it was in American 50 years ago to today.
          I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes non-fiction and is interested in law and economics. I really enjoyed reading it and the style which it is written in also makes you not put it down. The book had both stories and statistics, which helped the book come together to show the theme. If I were to rate it on a scale of 10, I would give it a 9.5 as there were a couple of pages that seemed a bit dry.

Comments

  1. Lukas PerdekampSeptember 9, 2019 at 6:03 PM

    I thought you did a good job explaining how the book is set up and how it explains the topic. I think it is really cool how there is a book that challenges the idea of the american dream. I always have wondered how real it really is. I also thought it was good how you explained what type of people the book encompasses when looking at their experience of the american dream.

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  2. Emily C.September 18, 2019 at 12:29 PM

    Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis sounds very interesting, especially with the way it alternates between stories about two children who are in very different situations and compares the past to the present. You did a great job summarizing the plot, explaining why you liked it, and compelling others to read it as well.

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  3. Zoya A.October 8, 2019 at 2:41 PM

    Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis seems to explore very real ideas that pertain to our modern society. The whole idea of the American Dream is currently being jeopardized due to current political issues and events, which makes this book all the more relevant to me. It is important to know that not everyone in America has the same experience growing up, and some people have it better than others. With these ideas in mind thanks to your excellent summary of this book and great annotation of the themes, I will be sure to check this book out!

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  4. AddieOctober 8, 2019 at 7:21 PM

    This book seems so interesting because it is about a really important and relevant topic. The example you used from the text really fits your description of the book which I find very helpful. The part where you mention the study from 50 years ago is such an intriguing topic because I do not know much about that time. I don't usually reach for nonfiction, but I will have to check this one out.

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