Many of us care deeply about the fate of young people growing up in poverty. We worry about their future and the future of an increasingly fragmented society. We want to help, but often don't know how, or even where to begin. The Kindness of Strangers reveals how caring adults in cities across America are trying to turn young lives around. It also tells of the much-celebrated mentoring movement they have created. Based on interviews with over 300 mentors, young people, scholars, and youth workers, this book takes a hard look at mentoring and asks some critical questions: how much can mentoring really accomplish? what does it take to be a successful mentor? what makes the difference between an effective program and one fraught with difficulties? Marc Freedman brings experience, research, and realism to these questions in an effort to present the truth about the mentoring movement sweeping America today.