Examines the living conditions of Americans from the lower economic classes and briefly discusses programs intended to assist them with their financial burdens.
Illuminates the effects of economic inequality, revealing how this process is increasing poverty levels in America. Describes the efforts of individuals to get by in today's fractured economy and outlines reforms that can combat poverty levels and level out economic inequality.
DeShawn lives with his poor family in the Frederick Douglass Project. He knows he should stay in school and stay out of the gang life, but that's the only route to money for his family that seems available.
Two orphaned teenage girls in New York's tenements in 1883 realize that their dream of saving enough money to move to Brooklyn across the newly-built bridge may be achieved if they learn new trades at a nearby settlement house, rather than continuing their lives of prostitution and stealing.
Seventeen-year-old Pert Lexie does not think things could get much worse in her small, impoverished community, but when her uncle's advances go too far, everything--including her determination to leave as soon as possible--suddenly changes.
Twelve-year-old Jens, who adores the farm where she has lived all her life, is devastated when severe financial problems may force her family to sell out and move to the city.
When Kato heads to the village well to pump a day's supply of water into two jerry cans, he discovers the aid-worker's truck has arrived with a special gift for his village.
A twelve-year-old street urchin and the son of Chicago's most important jeweler strike up an unlikely friendship in the days before the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, and both are nearly trapped when the city goes up in flames.
