No Hope for the Children of There Are No Children HereHenry Horner Homes, a Central Housing Project -city, is the setting in which the story of two boys who grew up in America's inner city occurs. The story follows the River family, particularly the two middle boys, Lafeyette and Pharoah, focusing on periods of conflict marked by drugs, death, gangs and poverty. The author describes how life in the inner city is devastating for a family, but especially for children. Public housing complexes were considered nice places. When the boys' mother, LaJoe, first moved to Horner, she was thirteen years old. The houses had freshly painted white walls, new linoleum floors, closets you could hide in, and brand new appliances. The kids went dancing in the basement, belonged to the Girl Scouts, and played outside on the playground surrounded by freshly planted grass. This harmonious spectacle came to an abrupt end. The housing authority had neither the money nor the interest to invest in the projects. They didn't care much about low-income families, and as a result, projects were neglected. The smell in the apartments became so strong that people thought dead fetuses were being flushed down the toilet. The apartments' appliances almost never worked, so cooking was limited. After an inspection of the basement, more than 2,000 new and used appliances were discovered covered in rats, animal carcasses and feces. Dead animals, accessories and women's underwear explain the persistent smell in the apartments. Life in the city center is filled with glimmers of hope. The children hoped to leave the terrible streets of the ghetto and settle in an innovative and improved place. There are times when Lafayette states, ...... middle of paper ...... their mothers become pregnant, usually, with a different father for each child. Kotlowitz does an excellent job of portraying how demoralizing life in the ghetto is. really is. In showing what the children in the book experience, Kotlowitz remains very neutral. It conveys the thoughts, fears and hopes of inner-city children who are not normally exposed to those who do not live in these circumstances. Lafayette and Pharoah are just two of thousands of children suffering in these disturbing conditions. The Chicago Housing Authority did step in and clean up the buildings, but without accessible money, there's not much that can be done. Children born into poverty cannot overcome the situation unless they are provided with the means and opportunities to do so. Works Cited: Kotlowitz, Alex. There are no children here. New York: Double day.1991.