The House That Crack Built

I use this book as part of a unit on drugs, alcohol, and tobacco for my 6th grade health class. I teach in a suburban school, Grades K-6 where 6th grade students are building on the what they learned in 4th and 5th grade on the topic. The House That Crack Built provokes student into serious discussion of illegal drug trade, sale, and use. Through these discussions students look at the various people in the book and how the production, distribution and use of crack may affect each of the characters differently. The man who lives in the house, needs round the clock protection from police and predators. He may be wealthy and have control over the town but he must live in isolation and fear. The farmers who would rather grow plants for the people to eat work in the man's fields because of their own desperate circumstances are being forced to grow illegal crops for their own survival. The people in the ghetto have struggled against the illegal drug production and trade as well as the control of the man in the house only to succumb to the crack in an effort to ease the pain they live with on a daily basis. Perhaps their neighborhood wasn't always a ghetto until the drug trade and the man took hold and threatened the people who objected to it. Did the girl have any real choices in her town? Did the people who were able to, abandon the town rather than fight the man in the house and help the girl? What about the baby? I don't see this as a book about "the Ghetto" but rather as a book about society. Rich over poor. Options vs desperation. Choice and consequence. Supportive social policies vs no social policy. It shows what can happen when people turn a blind eye to what begins as something small yet powerful. It shows the inequities that exist, not only in third world countries and in the ghetto but globally. I would recommend this to anyone! It is well written, dramatically illustrated and very thought provoking!

i use this book continuously when working with patients with substance abuse. i have found it helps them to think about how our actions effect others... about how buy crack just isn't bad for the addict, but destroys the whole community. i read the other reviews about this book. the ones who are pessimistic, don't seem to be getting the point. the overall theme is taking responsibility for our own actions and considering the possibility of change. it reminds me everytime that i read it, that in some small way, my choices are making a difference.

We already know that crack is bad for us. Do we really think about how many people are affected by the drug? Who really benefits? The stark reality of the pain caused by crack is depicted in this simple style reminiscent of The House That Jack Built. The book is thought provoking. The sing-song repetition helps the reader see the progression of pain. This is a great book for beginning a discussion on drugs and their effects on society.

Indeed, the market is saturated with texts documenting the rise of drug use in this country, subjecting readers to endless charts and statistics. Taylor's wonderfully written book of verse strikes home because of its simplicity. Readers are showm the progression of crack cocaine from the coca field to an inner-city alley. Using simple rhymme scheme, Taylor leaves readers with the message that many people, and therefore every member of the society, are responsible for the inundation this country has felt about the never-ending battle against drugs. Each page has a different watercolored illustration by Jan Thompson Dicks that makes the most of space while using the minimum effort to fill it. His characters, although sometimes twisted into agonizing positions, remain human, and touch the heart in a way that no statistic table can. The House That Crack Built is a wonderful text for children and adults alike, and would make an excellent addition to high school and university sociology and literature classrooms.