Reaching Up for Manhood: Transforming the Lives of Boys in America
by Geoffrey Canada

Geoffrey Canada explores, through passionately observed storytelling, what we are truly telling our boys about manhood. He lays out the little-understood and intertwined history of drugs and marketing to inner-city boys, a history that has led to consumption levels of forties and blunts that are excessive beyond excuse. Canada takes a hard look at the issues of too-early sex and, through a pointed story of his own sexual education on the streets, reminds us that the combination of the same old urges with new cultural forces and mores has resulted in a volatile sexual terrain for boys. He writes indelibly of the young boy he once was, one desperately needing a father’s love, and of the crucial issues—fatherhood, mentors, self-esteem, faith, healing, and more—that must be negotiated as boys reach up for manhood. A moving and revelatory report by a dedicated father and gifted child advocate.