This book, part of the Neighborhood Story Project, helps to teach two important lessons. One, anyone can succeed with the right support system and motivation. Two, the world in New Orleans is divided in a way that needs attention. Sam and Arlet Wylie take you around their neighborhood and introduce you to those drug dealers, beauticians, and circus punks that observe the shooting and killings on one of the most dangerous blocks in New Orleans. Sam and Arlet grew up above a convenience store on St. Claude Avenue, between Piety and Desire. They document in interviews, poetry, and short stories how life was and is in this neighborhood. The pictures help to put a face to the neighbors you're getting to know. They don't leave out the tough stuff, either. You feel like one of their neighbors by the time you hit the last page of the book, where you find one of their buddies obituaries staring you in the face. This powerful and tough stuff book is more real than most non-fiction I read. Maybe it is because it shows a part of my hometown that is largely ignored, or maybe Sam and Arlet simply succeeded in placing their reader on the stoop outside the iron gates. The writing is raw and straightforward. I would use this book as a writing tool for my English classes. Let me sit on your porch, kitchen table, or stoop for a little while and get to know each other. I can't wait to read the other NSB books. ( )