The Future of Us: What the Dreams of Children Mean for Twenty-First-Century America

Raymond is a talented young artist who carries his work from homeless shelter to homeless shelter in a tattered bag but has never even been inside a museum. He is emblematic of the children that the renowned pediatrician and children's advocate Irwin Redlener has met over the course of his long and colorful career. Inadequate education, barriers to health care, and crushing poverty make it overwhelmingly difficult for many children to realize their dreams. In this memoir, Redlener draws on poignant personal experiences to investigate the failures of our educational and health systems--and how we must drastically change our approach to the needs of children if the next generation of Americans is to fulfill its potential.

Redlener's winding career--from his work as a pediatrician in the Arkansas delta, to treating child abuse in a Miami hospital, to helping children in the aftermath of 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina, to cofounding the Children's Health Fund with the musician Paul Simon--is his springboard for discussing larger policy issues that hinder us from effectively eradicating childhood poverty or overcoming barriers to accessible health care. As a young doctor, Redlener encountered firsthand the surprising trials of extreme poverty and the resilient kids and parents who struggle to overcome it. In the back of his mobile health clinic, Redlener meets children who are largely invisible to the system--homeless, in extended foster care, or rarely able to see a doctor--yet who nonetheless dream of becoming paleontologists, artists, and marine biologists. The problems these children face go far beyond barriers to health care. Persistent deprivation and the avoidable problems that accompany poverty ensnare millions of children, with rippling effects that harm the health, prosperity, and creativity of the adults they become. Redlener's recommendations for policy makers and concerned citizens show a way forward if we can come together to advocate for children.