Author Guide · Narrative Nonfiction
Books Written by
In the summer of 1987 Alex Kotlowitz, a reporter for The Wall Street Journal, began spending time with two brothers, Lafeyette and Pharoah Rivers, aged eleven and nine, who lived in the Henry Horner Homes, a public housing project on Chicago's West Side. He followed them for two years. The book he wrote became a national bestseller and was named one of the most important books of the twentieth century by the New York Public Library. He has kept writing about Chicago and about violence and race ever since. This guide covers all four of his books in order, and where to start.
By Lisanne Swart · 4 books · Narrative nonfiction · 1991–2019 · Updated October 2026
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Quick answer
Alex Kotlowitz has published four books: There Are No Children Here (1991), about two boys in a Chicago housing project; The Other Side of the River (1998), about two Michigan towns and a teenager's death; Never a City So Real (2004), a walk through Chicago; and An American Summer (2019), about gun violence in Chicago, which won the J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize.
Where to Start with Alex Kotlowitz
If you want the famous one
→ There Are No Children Here (1991).
If you want the most recent
→ An American Summer (2019).
If you want a mystery
→ The Other Side of the River (1998).
All 4 Alex Kotlowitz Books, in Order
There Are No Children Here
Two years in the lives of Lafeyette and Pharoah Rivers, brothers growing up in Chicago's Henry Horner Homes amid gang violence and neglect. A national bestseller, it was adapted as a television film and named by the New York Public Library one of the 150 most important books of the twentieth century.
The Other Side of the River
In 1991 the body of a Black teenager from Benton Harbor, Michigan, was found in the river that separates it from St. Joseph, a mostly white town. Kotlowitz investigates the death and the very different ways the two towns understood it.
Never a City So Real
A portrait of Chicago through some of its less celebrated people, such as the owner of a pawnshop, written as a love letter to the city.
An American Summer
One summer in Chicago, told through the people who live with gun violence: those who have lost children, those who have pulled the trigger, and those trying to make sense of it.
How Many Books Did Alex Kotlowitz Write?
Four books between 1991 and 2019, all about Chicago and the American Midwest.
- Chicago — There Are No Children Here, Never a City So Real and An American Summer. Read the entries →
- Michigan — The Other Side of the River (1998). Read the entries →
In What Order to Read Alex Kotlowitz
His books are not a series. There Are No Children Here and An American Summer make a pair, nearly thirty years apart, about children and violence in Chicago.
A reading path
1. There Are No Children Here (1991)
2. An American Summer (2019)
3. The Other Side of the River (1998)
Quick facts about Alex Kotlowitz
- Born
- March 31, 1955, New York City
- Education
- Wesleyan University
- Career
- Reporter at The Wall Street Journal; contributor to The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker and This American Life
- Film
- Producer of the documentary The Interrupters (2011)
- Prizes
- Two Peabody Awards; George Polk Award; Heartland Prize; J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize
- Books
- 4, from 1991 to 2019
How Alex Kotlowitz Works: Staying
Kotlowitz stays with people for a long time, often years, and lets them tell their own stories. In There Are No Children Here he followed the Rivers brothers through two years of their lives.
He writes about violence without sensationalism, concentrating on the people who live with it and survive it rather than on the crimes themselves.
Frequently asked questions about Alex Kotlowitz's books
How many books has Alex Kotlowitz written?
Alex Kotlowitz has published four books: There Are No Children Here (1991), The Other Side of the River (1998), Never a City So Real (2004) and An American Summer (2019).
What is There Are No Children Here about?
There Are No Children Here (1991) follows two brothers, Lafeyette and Pharoah Rivers, growing up in a Chicago public housing project in the late 1980s.
What is An American Summer about?
An American Summer (2019) tells the stories of people affected by gun violence in Chicago during a single summer. It won the J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize.
Footnotes
Bibliography last verified 1 October 2026.
This list was not put together by a machine.
The notes are all mine,
and the books are all his.
Lisanne x
Written by Lisanne Swart, who has curated reading lists and author guides at lisanneswart.com since 2021.
See more on her personal bookshelf.
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