Whatever It Takes

Whatever It Takes: Geoffrey Canada's Quest to Change Harlem and America by Paul Tough

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


A tough read because this book spoke exactly to the work I'm doing right now: intergenerational poverty and working to overcome it. Several times while reading I found myself nodding in agreement and wondering why I was spending my leisure time reading about something I spent struggling with all day long.

Geoffrey Canada, the founder of the Harlem Children's Zone, is constantly struggling to come up with creative solutions to help children escape from their circumstances. He's set up a "conveyor belt" of services from pre-birth through high-school to try to change the culture in Harlem.

This conversation surrounding our terrible education systems in the US seems to be coming up more and more frequently and this gives me hope that change is on the horizon.

A few things that I like on the subject:

• This American Life: Going Big
• Waiting for Superman