Super Short Summary

There Are No Children Here by Alex Kotlowitz follows the Rivers family in Chicago during the late 1980s and early 1990s, focusing on LaJoe and her three sons, Pharoah, Lafayette, and Terence, as they navigate life amid systemic poverty, violence, and adversity. The narrative details their individual struggles, such as Pharoah's battle with a speech impediment, Lafayette's trauma from losing a friend, and Terence's wrongful imprisonment, through LaJoe's perspective. The book contains depictions of violence and systemic injustice.