Some Kids Left Behind (An Activist's Account of Beating Bureaucracy and Building a Movement)

Mere weeks after the Twin Towers fell, releasing toxic dust, debris, and smoke into the air, students at the nearby Stuyvesant High School were sent back to class at the urging of local and federal officials, and with the assurance of safety by the EPA. When, inevitably, students started falling ill, there was little recourse for anyone who hadn’t been in the towers that day. For Lila Nordstrom, this injustice sparked a lifetime of activism to secure the healthcare and survivors’ benefits that she and her classmates desperately needed and deserved.

Told with biting wit, irreverent humor, and startling honesty, Some Kids Left Behind is both a brilliant portrait of a changemaker in the making and a crash course in grassroots advocacy. As Lila learns to stand out from the pack and have her voice rise above those of political heavyweights—including Jon Stewart, Hillary Clinton, and Nancy Pelosi—and more than a few burly firefighters, she lays bare the absurdities of Washington politics and the persistence it takes to turn outrage into lasting change.

At a time when the world forgets its disasters faster than it recovers from them, Some Kids Left Behind offers a blueprint for action and a bracing reminder that courage, humor, and community are the foundations of progress and will guide us toward a better future.