Hopeful Girls, Troubled Boys

By 2007, it is estimated that 9.2 million girls of colour will be enrolled in US colleges compared to 6.9 million boys of colour. Why the discrepancy? Hopeful Girls, Troubled Boys focuses on the life histories of the largest immigrant group in New York City, the youth from the Dominican Republic, the West Indies, and Haiti, to explain why girls of colour are succeeding at higher rates than their male counterparts. Nancy Lopez brings to life the attitudes, feelings, and expectations of these teens, and shows that girls maintain optimistic outlooks on their lives, while boys are ambivalent about the promises of education. This fascinating ethnographic study explains how and why our schools and cities are failing boys of colour, and will be of interest to people in the field of education and anyone concerned about the future of young people.