[Woodhouse] provides a narrative balanced with historical examples, including Anne Frank and the children of Dred Scott, as well as contemporary examples, like children of illegal immigrants, to explain the need for a defined structure of children's rights in the United States. Recognizing the ways that America has failed its children, Woodhouse advocates for a much-needed perspective and commitment when it comes to thinking about how we treat our country's most vulnerable youth. . . . As a founder and director of the Center on Children and Families at the University of Florida and the Chair in Family Law at the University of Florida Levin, Woodhouse is uniquely situated to write about advocating for children's rights.

Woodhouse's superb, nuanced volume demonstrates the importance of treating children with dignity, shows the connection between children's needs and rights, and conveys how a developmentally based human rights framework can shape the balance between dependency and autonomy on the journey from childhood to adulthood.

An intensely personal book, written with passion and conviction. Woodhouse does a highly effective job of conveying the importance of attending to children's voices and agency. This book is likely to attract public attention and spur public debate.

Woodhouse is a wise person of experience whose voice is an important one, because of her good sense, her compassion, and her well-earned reputation in the field. She is also an excellent writer who brings the law alive through her stories, and talks about important legal issues in language that all can understand.

Barbara Bennett Woodhouse is the David H. Levin Chair in Family Law and founding director of the Center on Children and Families at the University of Florida.

Illustrations ix

Foreword by Ruth O'Brien xi

Preface xv

Introduction: Ain't I a Person? 1

Chapter 1: How to Think about Childhood 15

Chapter 2: How to Think about Children's Rights 29

Part 1: The Privacy Principle: Stories of Bondage and Belonging

Chapter 3: Boys in Slavery and Servitude: Frederick Douglass 51

Chapter 4: Girls at the Intersection of Age, Race, and Gender: Dred Scott's Daughters 75

Chapter 5: Growing Up in State Custody: "Tony" and "John G." 93

Part 2: The Agency Principle: Stories of Voice and Participation

Chapter 6: The Printer's Apprentice: Ben Franklin and Youth Speech 111

Chapter 7: Youth in the Civil Rights Movement: John Lewis and Sheyann Webb 133

Part 3: The Equality Principle: Stories of Equal Opportunity

Chapter 8: Old Maids and Little Women: Louisa Alcott and William Cather 159

Chapter 9: Breaking the Prison of Disability: Helen Keller and the Children of "Greenhaven" 180

Part 4: The Dignity Principle: Stories of Resistance and Resilience

Chapter 10: Hide and Survive: Anne Frank and "Liu" 213

Chapter 11: Children at Work: Newsboys, Entrepreneurs, and "Evelyn" 234

Part 5: The Protection Principle: Stories of Guilt and Innocence

Chapter 12: Telling the Scariest Secrets: Maya Angelou and "Jeannie" 259

Chapter 13: Age and the Idea of Innocence: "Amal" and Lionel Tate 279

CONCLUSION: The Future of Rights 304

Notes 315

Bibliography 337

Index 349