Loading...
Broke: Hardship and Resilience in a City of Broken Promises

By Jodie Adams Kirshner
Edition

Hardcover edition

Publisher Macmillan Imprint St. Martin's Press (Adult) ISBN

9781250220639

Broke: Hardship and Resilience in a City of Broken Promises

load
Out of stock
SKU
9781250220639J
Bankruptcy and the austerity it represents have become a common "solution" for struggling American cities. What do the spending cuts and limited resources do to the lives of city residents? In Broke, Jodie Adams Kirshner follows seven Detroiters as they navigate life during and after their city's bankruptcy. Reggie loses his savings trying to make a habitable home for his family. Cindy fights drug use, prostitution, and dumping on her block. Lola commutes two hours a day to her suburban job. For them, financial issues are mired within the larger ramifications of poor urban policies, restorative negligence on the state and federal level and—even before the decision to declare Detroit bankrupt in 2013—the root causes of a city’s fiscal demise.



Like Matthew Desmond’s Evicted, Broke looks at what municipal distress means, not just on paper but in practical—and personal—terms. More than 35 percent of Detroit’s 700,000 residents fall below the poverty line. Post-bankruptcy, they struggle with a broken real estate market, school system, and job market—and their lives have not improved.



Detroit is emblematic. Kirshner makes a powerful argument that cities—the economic engine of America—are never quite given the aid that they need by either the state or federal government for their residents to survive, not to mention flourish. Success for all America’s citizens depends on equity of opportunity.



Foreword by Michael Eric Dyson. Cast of characters. Author’s note. Source notes. Index. Black-and-white photographs.
More Information

Standard MARC Records

Download Standard MARC Records

Cover Art

Download Cover Art

Adult Crossover Nonfiction Plus (Grades 11 & Up)

Adult Crossover Nonfiction Plus

Adult Crossover Nonfiction Plus (Grades 11 & Up)

For Grades 11 & Up

For the more advanced high school reader who is ready for adult reading and enjoys nonfiction, our ACN Category is a great choice. With more sophisticated and challenging themes, these books open up new worlds for teen readers. Help them experience a new world monthly with the 14 books in ACN.

Take note: These selections often contain mature situations and language that could be considered controversial.

14 books per Year
$309.26 per Year
Interests

Diversity, Mature Readers, LGBTQ+, Nonfiction, Biographies, History

Like this book? Get more like this every month.
LEARN MORE