A Framework for Understanding Poverty by Ruby K. Payne

Payne, Ruby K. A Framework for Understanding Poverty. aha Process Inc, 2005.

Written primarily for teachers, this book is a must-read for anyone working in the public sector. Packed with charts, tables and worksheets, Payne reveals how poverty is a complex issue that requires more than a singular financial solution. Showing how all socioeconomic classes have their own nuances and "culture," she demonstrates how poverty is a multi-pronged attack that forces people into survival mode and shuts down their ability to see opportunities. Not only does Payne offer a a framework for understanding poverty, but strategies for more effective ways of fighting it.

My boss recommended this book to me after I was baffled by an encounter with a patron who wanted me to waive her fines just because she was on public assistance. I am so glad that I have read this book. It has given me a more compassionate and fully-developed view of the many faces of poverty. More than that it offers hope and realistic ideas for beating it down.

Recommendations:

Growing up poor: a literary anthology edited by Robert Coles and Randy Testa

Essays, stories and poems are offered from literary giants, incarcerated teens, high school students and accomplished professionals who have experienced poverty. This collection offers a broad perspective of this major social ill.

Angela's Ashes: A Memoir by Frank McCourt

From poor Irish school boy to successful American high school teacher, McCourt documents his hard-scrabble upbringing in this approachable Pulitzer Prize winner.

Savage Inequalities: Children in America's Schools by Jonathan Kozol

A modern classic in the field, Kozol's book reveals the inequities of the American school system.

The Thread That Runs So True by Jesse Stuart

An older classic in the field, Stuart's touching memoir of being an educator in rural Kentucky is enchanting.

Human Smoke by Nicholson Baker

Baker, Nicholson. Human Smoke. Simon & Schuster, 2008.

Controversial author Baker does not flinch in this new look at the causes of WWII. Written in a choppy style more evocative of newspaper clippings, this is a "blurb-style" book with no clear story line or narrative, but a clear thematic thread nonetheless. Baker seeks to blow open the notion of the "Good War" by revealing some of the more hidden roots of anti-semitism both in the United States and Europe.

Baker has a clear pacifist agenda and is attempting to alter perceptions about history that most Americans hold dear. Are those perceptions so much myth? Is there ever such a thing as a "good war"? I don't ultimately side with Baker on the entire anti-war premise, but in light of current events, the questions he raises are legitimate for public discourse. I found his unique perspective enlightening and useful for providing a thoroughly rounded view of WWII.

Recommendations:

Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky

Compelling, haunting and lyrical, these two novellas offer an interesting glimpse into the occupation of France by the Nazis. It is is a fascinating character study showing how hardship brings out peoples' true natures. (The author lived in France during this time and died in a concentration camp before she could finish her intended four novellas.)

Days of Infamy by Newt Gingrich

For a different perspective on the start of WWII, readers might like this novel of Pearl Harbor.

Churchill, Hitler, and "The Unnecessary War": How Britain Lost Its Empire and the West Lost the World by Patrick J. Buchanan

Another controversial tome with another viewpoint of how the West was drawn into conflict. While Buchanan and Baker might not agree on the details, they both would agree that war could have been avoided, but was a juggernaut that took on a life of its own through a series of hidden and seemingly minor decisions or beliefs. Fascinating!

The War: An Intimate History, 1941-1945 by Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns

This is the most recent definitive work covering the entire conflict from the United States' perspective.