Fire in the Ashes

On Page 5, Kozol mentions that the play Les Misérables, about the poor of Paris in the 19th century, opened in Manhattan not far from the Martinique. Why do you think he draws this parallel?

Why do you think having the duck in his apartment was so important to Pietro, Christopher’s father?

Why do you think an apparent benefactor was able to take Christopher away from the weekend without Pietro or any of the authorities being aware of where Christopher was going or what the man intended?

Kozol writes about Alice Washington, saying, “victimhood is not the word that comes to mind?” (139). Even though Alice died of HIV and cancer, why is she not a victim? 

What are the environmental hazards that Kozol writes about in Chapter 7 that affected people in the South Bronx? Why do you think these hazards were located in these neighborhoods?

On Page 181, Kozol writes about a social studies teacher who was critical of Pineapple in ways that he considers showed “unusual rigidity” (181). Do you agree with his assessment? Why or why not?

The intellectual and curious Jeremy was “not a likely candidate for college” (221), according to Jeremy’s school principal. Why do you think he was branded this way? Was this fair?

Kozol challenges the idea of exceptionalism and writes in the Epilogue that children who succeeded benefited from love and help. Do you agree with this assessment? Why or why not?