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Title details for Invisible Child by Andrea Elliott - Wait list

Invisible Child

Poverty, Survival & Hope in an American City

by Andrea Elliott
Adenrele Ojo
Audiobook
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PULITZER PRIZE WINNER • NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A “vivid and devastating” (The New York Times) portrait of an indomitable girl—from acclaimed journalist Andrea Elliott
“From its first indelible pages to its rich and startling conclusion, Invisible Child had me, by turns, stricken, inspired, outraged, illuminated, in tears, and hungering for reimmersion in its Dickensian depths.”—Ayad Akhtar, author of Homeland Elegies
ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New York Times • ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The Atlantic, The New York Times Book Review, Time, NPR, Library Journal
In Invisible Child, Pulitzer Prize winner Andrea Elliott follows eight dramatic years in the life of Dasani, a girl whose imagination is as soaring as the skyscrapers near her Brooklyn shelter. In this sweeping narrative, Elliott weaves the story of Dasani’s childhood with the history of her ancestors, tracing their passage from slavery to the Great Migration north. As Dasani comes of age, New York City’s homeless crisis has exploded, deepening the chasm between rich and poor. She must guide her siblings through a world riddled by hunger, violence, racism, drug addiction, and the threat of foster care. Out on the street, Dasani becomes a fierce fighter “to protect those who I love.” When she finally escapes city life to enroll in a boarding school, she faces an impossible question: What if leaving poverty means abandoning your family, and yourself?
A work of luminous and riveting prose, Elliott’s Invisible Child reads like a page-turning novel. It is an astonishing story about the power of resilience, the importance of family and the cost of inequality—told through the crucible of one remarkable girl. 

Winner of the J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize • Finalist for the Bernstein Award and the PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award • Longlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Awards

  • Release date

    October 5, 2021

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9780593147313
      • File size: 609640 KB
      • Duration: 21:10:04

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      This audiobook generates so many emotions--outrage, disbelief, shame, frustration, and, occasionally, hope--but narrator Adenrele Ojo, with her rich voice and impeccable pacing, navigates us through them. We meet Dasani when she is 11 years old and living in a moldy, overcrowded, and dangerous New York City shelter with her parents and seven siblings. NEW YORK TIMES reporter Andrea Elliott's research explores the discrimination in employment and housing experienced by Dasani's ancestors; the addiction struggles of Dasani's parents; the innate intellect of Dasani herself, which is held back by societal and personal challenges; and the often inexplicable and maddening bureaucratic decisions within the child welfare system. Ojo maintains the flow and never falters in distinguishing between the author's narrative and the authentic speech of the myriad characters. A.B. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from August 2, 2021
      “A child’s homelessness is hidden,” writes New York Times investigative reporter Elliot in her stunning debut, which chronicles eight years in the life of Dasani Coates, starting in 2012, when Coates was one of 22,000 homeless children in New York City. With compassion and curiosity, she uses the story of Dasani to make visible the cycles of poverty, inequity, and resilience that plague families across the United States. Elliott skillfully portrays Dasani’s experiences, from age 11, living in a rat-infested shelter, “freighted by... forces beyond her control,” including hunger, drug abuse, and the pervasive threat of being separated from family by child protection services. As Dasani gets older, she confronts the dilemma of whether to keep her family together, or leave them for a free boarding school that “educate children in need,” and promises a better future. Woven into Dasani’s tale is her scrupulously reported ancestral lineage, which allows Elliott to unveil the story of a country grappling with an enduring legacy of slavery, racism, and destitution. As Dasani’s mother says of their family’s fate, “It’s a cycle.... just coming back around.” Though the narrative centers on the inevitability of these cycles, Elliott manages to incorporate moments of profound hope and togetherness throughout. This is a remarkable achievement that speaks to the heart and conscience of a nation.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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