Kind im Schatten

A classic that will take its place alongside Orwell. On clear days, eleven-year-old Dasani can see the Empire State Building in the distance from her window. However, her reality could not be further removed from the opportunities that the Big Apple offers to the affluent white majority. Dasani lives with her ten-member family in 48 square meters in a Brooklyn shelter, where drugs and pests are commonplace, and the threat of eviction or the separation of siblings into foster care looms constantly. For eight years, journalist Andrea Elliott followed Dasani's family, weaving their story of childhood in poverty with the journey of their ancestors from slavery to the Great Migration north. As Dasani grows up, the homelessness crisis in New York City explodes, deepening the divide between rich and poor. She must help guide her siblings through a world marked by violence, hunger, racism, and instability. On the streets, Dasani becomes a fierce fighter to protect those she loves. When she finally earns a place at a boarding school in the countryside, she faces an impossible question: What if escaping poverty means losing her family and her identity?.