‘Whatever It Takes’ Book By Paul Tough Chronicles the Inspiring Story of Harlem Children’s Zone

At Harlem Children’s Zone, we do “whatever it takes” to root out poverty to strengthen the foundations and futures of neighborhoods.

That model is the focus — and title — of Paul Tough’s seminal book on Harlem Children’s Zone, Whatever It Takes. A tour de force of reporting, Whatever It Takes is a carefully researched and deeply affecting dispatch from inside the most daring and potentially transformative social experiment of our time. It is an inspired portrait not only of Geoffrey Canada, the organization’s founder and president, but also the parents and children in Harlem who struggle to better their lives, often against great odds.

Whatever It Takes was named one of the “Best Books of 2008” by the editors of The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times.

Read an excerpt from the book, an afterword from Tough, and a lesson plan focusing on urban education issues explored in the book.

Reviews for ‘Whatever it Takes’ by Paul Tough

“A story more gripping and inspiring than you’d imagine social policy could possibly be.”

– GQ Magazine 

“I wish every city had a Geoffrey Canada … His vision of a renewed Harlem community, and his accomplishments toward achieving it, attest to the power we all have to overcome poverty and hopelessness in America.”

– President Bill Clinton

“This unflinching book will motivate us all to take action and make our schools places of possibility and hope.”

– Essence Magazine

“… [Brings] you inside the Promise Academy and into the mind of a visionary who has known failure … yet has the nerve to keep the future squarely in view.”

– O Magazine

“This book changed my understanding of poverty in America in the most surprising way: it made feel hopeful.”

– Ira Glass, host, This American Life

“A must-read for any American committed to solving our nation’s greatest social injustice — the fact that in a country that aspires so admirably to be a land of equal opportunity, the socioeconomic circumstances into which you are born still determine your opportunity in life.”

– Wendy Kopp, CEO and founder, Teach for America

New York Times Review

Washington Post Review

Los Angeles Times Review