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In celebration of Independent Bookstore Day, shop our limited-time sale on bestselling audiobooks from April 22nd-28th. Don’t miss out—purchases support your local bookstore!
Shop nowKids Off the Block
The Inspiring True Story of One Woman's Quest to Protect Chicago's Most Vulnerable Youth
Narrator
Lisa Reneé Pitts
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Length
9 hours 14 minutes
Language
English
"What can I do?"
That was the question Diane Latiker asked of herself as she watched the teens in her Chicago neighborhood succumb at an alarming rate to gangs and gun violence. Her answer started small, inviting ten kids into her living room to talk about their struggles and dreams. But over the years it grew. With the help of God, her family, and many other people along the way, Diane's Kids Off the Block morphed from a personal crusade to do what she could into a nationally known program that has helped more than 3,000 at-risk Chicago teens.
In this powerful, energizing book, she tells her incredible story to men and women who are sick of sitting behind their keyboards watching the world crumble and are ready to do something to make a difference. Through doubt, financial strain, and deep grief over lives lost, Diane has never lost her faith that God called her to this life-transforming work. In this book she'll show you that God is calling you to do something too. Maybe something that feels small . . . definitely something that will change the world.
Diane Latiker was a CNN Top Ten Hero of the Year in 2011 for her tireless work with at-risk Chicago teens. Recipient of the 2013 BET Shine a Light Award, she is an in-demand speaker and has been featured by national media outlets including NBC News, CBS News, NPR's Weekend Edition, Ebony magazine, Time magazine, the Huffington Post, and USA Today. In 2019, she spoke at the US House Judiciary Committee's first hearing on gun violence in years, and she graduated from the Goldin Institute as a 2019 Chicago Peace Fellow. Latiker lives in Chicago with her husband and their eight children.
Lisa Renee Pitts is an award-winning actress in theater, television, and film, as well as an accomplished audiobook narrator. She has been seen Off-Broadway, in Europe, and in regional theaters across the United States, performing leading roles in such prominent plays as A Raisin in the Sun, Doubt, Waiting for Lefty, Valley Song, and Our Town. Her television appearances include The Shield and Law and Order, and she played the recurring role of Allison Sawyer on the hit family drama Lincoln Heights for the ABC Family Channel. Lisa's audiobook titles include biographies, fiction, nonfiction and children's novels, including Pushkin and the Queen of Spades by Alice Randall, for which she won an AudioFile Earphones Award for excellence in narration. Other notable titles are Left to Tell by Immaculee Ilibagiza, Better Than I Know Myself by Virginia DeBerry and Donna Grant, and My Name Is Not Angelica by Scott O'Dell. Lisa is a graduate of Rutgers University, where she received her B.F.A. in Theater Arts. She lives in Burbank, California.