Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City (2018) Parents Guide: Is the book OK for kids?

The book contains brief mentions of 'survival sex' and prostitution as a means to pay rent, highlighting the desperate measures individuals take when facing homelessness. There are no graphic descriptions of sexual acts, but the transactional nature of sex in high-poverty environments is discussed in detail regarding characters like Crystal. The author explores how landlords like Sherrena interact with tenants who may be exploited or who use sex as a bartering chip. These mentions serve to illustrate the loss of…

Violence is depicted as a byproduct of housing instability and the environments where low-income housing is situated. There are descriptions of domestic abuse, such as the incidents that lead to police calls at Sherrena's properties, and a scene involving a shooting in a neighborhood. The text details the atmospheric threat of violence in dilapidated housing units where doors lack locks and windows are broken. We see the physical consequences of neglect, such as lead poisoning in children and the risk of house…

Strong profanity is present throughout, recorded from real-life dialogue to maintain the authenticity of the subjects' experiences. This includes frequent use of 'f*ck,' 'sh*t,' 'bitch,' and various racial slurs used in context of the subjects' daily lives and interpersonal conflicts. Characters like Scott and Crystal use coarse language as a reflection of their stressful environments and survivalist mindsets. The N-word is used both colloquially between neighbors and in a derogatory fashion to illustrate the…

Drug use is a central theme for several subjects, particularly those living in the College Mobile Home Park. The book describes crack cocaine and heroin use, the process of 'shooting up,' and the financial devastation caused by addiction. We follow Scott, a former nurse, as he struggles with opiate addiction and the physical symptoms of withdrawal. The narrative explains the culture of 'dope houses' in the North Side and how addiction often becomes a coping mechanism for the misery of poverty. Detailed accounts…

Heavy themes include systemic poverty, racial discrimination in housing, the psychological trauma of eviction, and the cycle of debt. It also explores the ethics of landlords profiting from the poor through the lives of people like Arleen, Tobin, and Sherrena. Readers are confronted with the reality of 'unstable housing' where families spend upwards of 70% of their income on rent. The narrative details how eviction is not just a result of poverty, but a primary cause of it, leading to job loss and family…