Children of the Streets, Part One: The Runaways chronicles one child's journey from the suburbs, and another's from a broken home, to the streets of New York City. Along the way, they encounter a street kid who shows them the ways of the streets, and ultimately, tries to save them from their fate. This compelling story cries out for parents and children to set aside their preconceptions and expectations and try to get to know, understand and love one another

Street kid' and what can or cannot be done to a person so defined is a contested issue. Often, only voices of the hegemonic moral order count. In Zambia, these voices depict street kids not only as needy victims of socio-economic forces who take up abnormal childhood but also as a social menace to be eradicated. The thesis of this book, anchored on ideas of space and social construction of meaning, makes self-portraits count. Insights drawn from the analysis of peripatetic interviews are instructive for both the theory and practice of working with street kids. As Zambian street kids carve for themselves a survival niche on the streets, they contest ascribed negative identities and strategically position themselves as 1) vulnerable victims, 2) heroic victims, and 3) human beings par excellence. These identities, connected to street kids' hard times life trajectories, act as tools for social activism. Firstly, they help legitimise street kids' unreserved inclusion in the mainstream society while undermining ascribed negative identities by which they are separated from, and discriminated against, by society. Secondly, the identities are a tool for attracting charitable reactions.

Street life! What is this? Street children! Who are they? What does street life really entail? This book presents some of the answers. This topic: Voices of street children from Trinidad and Tobago is complex and contentious. First of all, these children do not readily speak and give information because they do not trust others. Their speeches are often loaded with metaphors, analogies. To try to understand their voices one must listen thoughtfully and carefully. In addition, one ought to decode these voices as accurately as possible. This is demanding and challenging but quite rewarding since it provides an apt opportunity for these children to express themselves freely about issues that concern them. The voices of these street children clearly highlight the stark reality of street life. These children speak about the continuous violence and danger that they encounter and the abuse and hunger that they endure on the streets. It is instructive to note that some of them even admit that they sometimes resort to violence as a means of survival. These voices indicate the symptoms of a greater problem. They also strongly suggest that it is important to listen. Through the art of listening one can understand life through the eyes of those who actually live on the streets. This book, therefore, highlights some pressing and urgent issues that street children encounter in their daily lives. It does not try to arouse ill-informed sympathy or even evoke sensationalism. Rather, it endeavours to sensitize readers to the plight of street children because it is believed that if people are more aware about the kind of life street children endure, they may be motivated to become involved in programmes geared to assist these children and perhaps arrive at some possible solutions. It also attempts to foster a genuine attitude and concern and encourage positive action towards these children. Therefore, another chief objective of this book is the dissemination of clear and supported information and insights about their situations as provided by the children themselves. Therefore, listening to the voices of these children is essential.

"In this ethnographic analysis of the cultural lives of children who are "sleeping rough" in Port-au-Prince, Kovats-Bernat expands the traditional bounds of anthropological thought, which have only recently permitted a scholarly treatment of "the child" as a valuable informant, relevant witness, and active agent of social change. Refuting the commonplace notion that street children are unsocialized, Hobbesian mongrels, the author finds these children adopt strategies to carve a social and cultural space for themselves on the contested streets of Port-au-Prince, individually and collectively playing a vital role in Haiti's civic life as they shape their own complex political, economic, and cultural identities"--Back cover.