"Vivid, lively, and yet theoretically informed, a triumph of patient and sustained fieldwork. . . . Jankowski presents the gang and its members not as pathological departures from social norms, but as shrewd and resourceful operators."—Michael Lipsky, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
"Islands in the Street fills a wide gap in the literature on gangs. Jankowski's innovative model of gang participation and organization is important and elegant, guaranteeing that this will be the book on gangs for the next ten years, if not longer."—Ruth Horowitz, University of Delaware