In her new book, Valerie Kinloch investigates how the lives and literacies of youth in New York City s historic Harlem are affected by public attempts to gentrify the community. Kinloch draws connections between race, place, and students literate identities through interviews with youth, teachers, longtime black residents, and their new white neighbors. Harlem on Our Minds is a participatory action narrative that brings emerging theories of social ecology to life for the high school English classroom. Vividly drawn lessons show how teachers can engage urban youth in school-based literacy by linking canonical text, particularly of the Harlem renaissance, to current events.