Jonathan Kozol's Amazing Grace: The Trials and Tribulations of
             Jonathan Kozol creates a hauntingly vivid portrait of the
             South Bronx neighborhood of Mott Haven in his 1995 bestseller
             Amazing Grace, The Trials and Tribulations of Everyday Life. The
             shocking truth of Americans living in abject, third-world
             conditions in the same time zone as myself was incomprehensible.
             Kozol's descriptions of crippling poverty, lethal pollution, and
             almost non-existent health care, bring to mind places half a
             world away, such as Somalia or Kosovo, not a 20 minute subway
             ride from Wall Street. Amazing Grace is far more than a
             travelogue of the poorest Congressional District in the United
             States of America, as such a book would be of little significance
             due to our collective ability to tune out such scenes in our own
             backyards. Instead of merely observing, Kozol takes to the
             streets to introduce us to the faceless and forgotten, and
             transmits voices that may otherwise never be heard.
             Statistics and stereotypes became an eight year old boy,
             named Bernardo, who plummeted to his death in the shaft of a
             faulty elevator, uninspected due to budget cutbacks and
             inspectors who are afraid to enter the public housing where
             Bernardo lived. The city of New York blamed the family for
             "letting" him play in the hall, as if it were a capital offense.
             This child, described as serious and who scored an 85 on his last
             test- in mathematics(p.105),was discovered when his blood
             dripping through the ceiling couldn't be mistaken for the usual
             elevator grease. He was raised by his 19 year old aunt and
             grandmother, both of whom were devout Catholics, as was Bernardo.
             Contrary to popular opinion, religion and family play a huge
             role in the lives of Mott Haven's residents. Bernardo's aunt
             tells Kozol that prayer and the acceptance of God's will, her
             only consolation, a sentiment wh...