Book cover of Coming of Age in the Other America

Book description

Recent research on inequality and poverty has shown that those born into low-income families, especially African Americans, still have difficulty entering the middle class, in part because of the disadvantages they experience living in more dangerous neighborhoods, going to inferior public schools, and persistent racial inequality. Coming of Age in


When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked Coming of Age in the Other America as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

This book, by three sociologists, examines the life chances of children from low-income families living in public housing in Baltimore.

It builds on prior research by both economists and sociologists, and has both a quantitative and an intense qualitative aspect from in-depth interviews. The authors seem to have discovered a mechanism that can help these children succeed. It is to have an “identity project” that gives meaning and goals to their lives.

If you love Coming of Age in the Other America...

Book cover of These Blue Mountains

These Blue Mountains by Sarah Loudin Thomas,

A moving story of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.

German pianist Hedda Schlagel's world collapsed when her fiancé, Fritz, vanished after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1932, Hedda


Want books like Coming of Age in the Other America?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 42 books like Coming of Age in the Other America.

Browse books like Coming of Age in the Other America

Book cover of Labor's Love Lost: The Rise and Fall of the Working-Class Family in America
Book cover of Chutes and Ladders: Navigating the Low-Wage Labor Market
Book cover of Heaven's Door: Immigration Policy and the American Economy

Share your top 3 reads of 2025!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,367

readers submitted
so far, will you?

📚 If you like Coming of Age in the Other America, you might also like...

Book cover of Pioneer Paddles of the Colonial South

Pioneer Paddles of the Colonial South by William D. Auman,

Award-winning novelist William Auman, author of If Trees Could Testify..., takes the reader on a time-traveling odyssey featuring 345 bodies of water in six states within the historical context through which they unfold.

Journey into remaining Colonial-era wilderness with stories of pirate treasure, epic frontiersmen, Indigenous Peoples, and Revolutionary


Book cover of A Winter's Disgrace

A Winter's Disgrace by Kathleen Buckley,

Cyprian, a marquess’s heir, will not let his mother choose his next bride. Leaving a house party in a blizzard to avoid her stratagems, he finds a woman trudging half frozen toward the London road. Rosamund fled disgrace, hoping to reach the one person who might shelter her, but even


5 book lists we think you will like!