Live to See the Day

Metropolitan Books
Hardcover
240 pages • $29.99
ISBN: 9781250850065

Coming of Age in American Poverty

Nikhil Goyal

In Kensington, Philadelphia, eighteenth birthdays are not rites of passage but statistical miracles. Distinguished only by its poverty, Kensington is home to Ryan, Giancarlos, and Emmanuel, three Puerto Rican children who live among the most marginalized families in the United States. This is the story of their coming-of-age, which is beset by violence—the violence of homelessness, hunger, incarceration, stray bullets, sexual and physical assault, the hypermasculine logic of the streets, and the drug trade. One mistake drives Ryan out of middle school and into the juvenile justice pipeline. For Emmanuel, his queerness means his mother’s rejection and sleeping in shelters. School closures and budget cuts inspire Giancarlos to lead student walkouts, which get him kicked out of the education system. Although all three are high school dropouts, they are on a quest to defy their fate and their neighborhood and get diplomas. In a triumph of empathy and drawing on nearly a decade of reporting, sociologist and policymaker Nikhil Goyal follows Ryan, Giancarlos, and Emmanuel on their mission, plunging deep into their lives as they strive to resist their designated place in the social hierarchy. In the process, Live to See the Day confronts a new age of American poverty, after the end of “welfare as we know it,” after “zero tolerance” in schools criminalized a generation of students, when the odds of making it out are ever slighter.

© Timothy O’Connell

Nikhil Goyal is a sociologist and policymaker who served as senior policy advisor on education and children for Chairman Senator Bernie Sanders on the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions and the Committee on the Budget. He developed education, child care, and child tax credit federal legislation as well as a tuition-free college program for incarcerated people and correctional workers in Vermont. He has appeared on CNN, Fox, and MSNBC and has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Time, The Nation, and other publications. Goyal earned his B.A. at Goddard College and his M.Phil. and Ph.D. at the University of Cambridge. He lives in Vermont.

Rising Class

Farrar, Straus and Giroux BYR
Hardcover
352 pages • $19.99
ISBN: 9780374313579

How Three First-Generation College Students Conquered Their First Year

Jennifer Miller

As the low-income daughter of immigrants, Briani knows she’ll face imposter syndrome at her Ivy League college. But the biggest challenges of freshman year are the ones she never saw coming. Conner grew up shouldering extra responsibility and can’t wait for more independence. But 1,200 miles away from his mom, brother, and girlfriend, he feels more tied to them than ever. Jacklynn decided to attend community college and live at home. Soon, though, she’s balancing school with a stressful job and lifealtering family events. Rising Class follows Briani, Conner, Jacklynn, and their friends as they experience not only their first year of college but the COVID-19 pandemic, which turned the world upside down. Eye-opening and poignant, Jennifer Miller writes a heartening true story that speaks to new beginnings, coming of age, and perseverance in the face of unparalleled challenges.

© Jason Feifer

Jennifer Miller is the author of four critically acclaimed books, Inheriting the Holy Land, The Year of the Gadfly, The Heart You Carry Home, and Mr. Nice Guy. Today Miller is a regular contributor to The New York Times and The Washington Post. She has reported extensively on teenagers and campus life and, more broadly, on disenfranchised communities, including military veterans, formerly incarcerated individuals, and the rural working class. She has taught undergraduate writing courses at Columbia and has been a thesis advisor at both the Columbia School of the Arts and the Columbia Journalism School. Please visit byjennifermiller.com for more information.