Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival, and Hope in an American City

Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival, and Hope in an American City is a 2021 nonfiction book by New York Times journalist Andrea Elliott. It was awarded the 2022 Pulitzer Prize in General Nonfiction. The book is centered around Dasani, an African American child growing up in poverty in New York City. Elliott followed Dasani and her family for eight years, documenting the opportunities and obstacles she encounters as she works to overcome generational poverty. Elliott originally produced a series of long-form articles for The New York Times, and then continued to follow the family as the work expanded into a book-length project. The work is part immersive journalism and part historical biography, as it traces the central family’s history back to slavery to explore themes of Agency Intervention and Surveillance, The Conflict Between Systemic Bias and Individual Responsibility, and The Lingering Effects of Poverty.

This study guide refers to the Kindle Edition published by Random House on October 5, 2021.

Content Warning: This source book and this guide include depictions of violence, including assault, domestic violence, sexual violence, murder, and violence against children. The guide also discusses slavery, poverty, individuals being unhoused, and substance abuse disorders.

Summary

In Part 1, Dasani and her family, which includes Chanel, her stepfather Supreme, and her seven siblings, live in a small room at a New York City shelter for the unhoused. Dasani, 11, is curious and talented but anxious about starting a new school because she worries about being stigmatized for living in a shelter. At her new school, many of her educators recognize both her potential and the many obstacles she will need to confront, including her parents’ substance abuse disorders and chronic unemployment, systemic racism, and government monitoring.

Dasani’s large family and her strong commitment to her siblings also present unique challenges. Dasani is described as a “parentified child” who takes on the role of caregiver for their own parent or siblings. The family must submit to government intervention by at least three organizations, and they have been monitored since 2004. They hope to leave the shelter after securing a generous tax refund, but Supreme’s portion of the refund goes to overdue child support for two other children. At school, Dasani gets into fights and is suspended.

Part 2 provides a biography of the Sykes family, Dasani’s maternal family lineage, stretching back to 1835. In reverse chronological order, the section offers an overview of Dasani’s grandmother Joanie’s life, continuing backward to the family’s progenitor, David. David grew up enslaved and was probably separated from his siblings (a common practice among enslavers). He lives through the post-Civil War Restoration period but is eventually shot to death in unclear circumstances. His grandson June served in the only Black regiment in Europe during World War II (WWII). After the war, he moved north as part of The Great Migration though he struggled to secure work and housing.

Dasani’s grandmother Joanie and her sister raised themselves due to their father’s alcoholism and their mother’s absence. Joanie had several children, including Chanel, with a married man named Sonny Boy. Chanel initially lives with her father because Joanie feels her daughter’s life will be more stable that way. When Chanel’s father dies in a work accident, Chanel gradually gravitates back toward her mother, who struggles with drug addiction and being unhoused. As the AIDS epidemic strikes, Joanie stops using drugs and gets a job as a janitor. Meanwhile, Chanel has two children with an older man (Ramel) and also begins using drugs. Eventually, she gets in the shelter system and attempts to stay off drugs.

In Part 3, the narrative shifts to just prior to the events described in Part 1. Chanel meets Supreme, who also comes from a traumatic background, has a substance abuse disorder, and has two children from a previous relationship. They eventually marry and have four more children together. They fall into a pattern of domestic disturbance in which Supreme leaves with his two oldest children, then they reconcile and repeat the cycle. Joanie passes away unexpectedly. Thanks to her pension and a rent subsidy program, the family is able to move to Staten Island. Supreme and Chanel are able to keep regular jobs for a while, until Chanel is prescribed opioids after an illness. This leads to Chanel and Supreme falling into heroin addiction and unemployment. The rent subsidy expires, and they re-enter the shelter system, ending up in the Auburn Shelter. Chanel gets into trouble with the law and consequently Supreme is given supervised custody of the children. She is eventually able to regain custody and move back into Auburn.

In Part 4, Dasani has a chance encounter with local fitness legend Giant. He invites her to train and perform with him, but her parents are jealous and perceive Giant as a rival, leading them to sabotage her opportunity for success. Elliott offers details about Supreme’s past: His parents experienced heroin addiction and he was placed in foster care. Later, he had two children with two different women before marrying and having Khaliq and Nana. His first wife died suddenly from heart complications.

The family ends up in an apartment in Harlem. Elliott’s series about Dasani is published in The New York Times and Chanel and Dasani become very recognizable. Dasani participates in the inauguration of Mayor Bill de Blasio. The family eventually moves back to Staten Island, and Dasani is admitted to Hershey, a private school in Pennsylvania for poor children.

In Part 5, Dasani struggles to adjust to life at Hershey. Her mentors and educators try to provide the skills they think she needs to thrive, which include code-switching, separating herself from her family, and overcoming her confrontational tendencies. In Staten Island, Dasani’s seven-year-old brother Papa runs away, and her stepbrother Khaliq is hospitalized after smoking his father’s synthetic marijuana. Both events lead to more agency intervention, and Chanel is eventually restricted from custody after testing positive for drug use. Supreme struggles to take care of the children and gain access to food stamps, leading to an attempted robbery. The Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) takes custody of the children and places them in foster care.

Chanel and Supreme blame each other and Papa for the events, and to varying degrees Chanel, Dasani, and Papa all blame themselves, despite the incompetence of ACS in providing assistance to the family.

In Parts 6 and 7, Supreme and Chanel fall into depression and drug use because of their situation. They eventually separate, and Supreme is particularly affected by the custody disputes with ACS. Dasani seems to be committed to her success at school and does well for some time. She bonds with her housefather Mr. Akers, who also comes from poverty in New York City and can therefore relate to Dasani’s struggles. Eventually, however, she gets into fights and is expelled from Hershey and forced to enter the foster care system in New York. She works to rebuild her relationship with her sister Avianna, and they eventually reconnect. At the end of the book, Chanel regains custody of Avianna, Dasani, and Papa, suggesting the possibility that the family can move in a better direction.