Homeless Kids Speak Out

Lives Turned Upside Down: Homeless Children In Their Own Words and Photographs     

By Jim Hubbard, Founder of Shooting Back           Simon & Shuster       1996

Often times, when going through a library collection and weeding it, books with black and white photos scream out loud, “Weed Me!”.  Sometimes, you actually run into exceptions. This book is one. The premise is simple and powerful.

Homeless kids in different cities were given cameras to shoot their environment and then they wrote about their lives. The kids range from ages 9-12 ( the same age as our intended audience), and they reside in Santa Monica, Minneapolis, and Alexandria, VA.

The stories and photographs are simply powerful, and they can be used in wide variety of ways.

This book can be used in a general way to increase awareness of homelessness.

One can incorporate this book in a study of personal narratives.

You could have students take photos of their neighborhood and environment and then they can write about how their lives and photographs compare to those of the kids in the book.

Students can use the stories as a springboard to brainstorm about what can be done to help homeless people.

Students can look for commonalities and differences in the experiences of the various kids featured in the book.