Live to See the Day, a new book by the sociologist Nikhil Goyal, tracks the lives of three local teenagers as they attempt to balance going to school with survival in Philadelphia, writes Nikita Stewart for The New York Times.

One of the subjects of the book is Ryan Rivera. In 2011, the Puerto Rican teenager from Kensington found himself pleading with Philadelphia City Council not to close his high school that sought out students who held criminal records or dropped out for other reasons and helped them graduate.

“Don’t take away my home,” he said at the time.

The City Council decided to not close the school in big part due to student testimonies. However, the teenager questioned why his school had been threatened with closure in the first place.

Goyal’s book offers a larger examination of American policies, institutions, and systems and asks important questions, like why did the students “have to beg the people in power for public schools that respected and helped their students?”

He goes on to show that the safety nets that are supposed to help elevate children and families out of poverty are in tatters and that poverty is a tightrope walk that leaves no room for error.

Read more about the new book by Nikhil Goyal that tracks the lives of three Philadelphia teenagers attempting to balance school and survival in The New York Times.