Hope: The Everyday and Imaginary Life of Young People on the Margins

Simon Robb, Patrick O’Leary, Alison Mackinnon and Peter Bishop
Wakefield Press

This great, thought provoking, little book explores what people find hope in. It presents some of the results from a study about hope carried out between 2006 and 2008 in South Australia with people from the margins of society, particularly on the margins of the education system.

Students and teachers were given a disposable camera and then interviewed. So we are given first-hand insight into how people find hope through their photos and responses.

The photos and stories are at times inspiring, saddening, challenging and confronting. The model presented could easily be used with youth groups, schools or congregations with very interesting results.

There are several essays at the end of the book. One is a bit academic but the others are very readable and are worth pursuing right to the end.

Jon Humphries