Why is it so difficult for some people to escape poverty? Cynthia Esposito Lamy answers that question in American Children in Chronic Poverty: Complex Risks, Benefit-Cost Analyses, and Untangling the Knot by describing the complex and interacting "knot" of problems that children face as they grow up in poverty. Through a vast store of research on topics related to children, families and poverty, and methods to estimate "social return on investment," Lamy determines which programs and policies produce benefits that exceed costs, providing evidence for an efficient fight against poverty....