Interviews

Podcast interview with Contexts Magazine. Winter 2025.

Podcast interview for the New Books Network. January 13, 2025.

“‘Brothers in Grief’ Explores the Toll of Gun Violence on Philadelphia Youth.” The Trace. December 23, 2024.

Book Reviews in Academic Journals

Sociology of Race and Ethnicity, published online February 28, 2025.

“Brothers in Grief boldly depicts the lived realities of Black boys. The book’s multidimensional perspectives outline the struggles of students who failed to find consistent support from school officials. It would serve as an excellent resource for graduate and undergraduate courses such as race, gender, crime, law, deviance, education, and social justice and is exemplary of what it means to do a methodologically enriching project while amplifying humanity and compassion. The glossary is well thought out, making what can confuse outsiders accessible and transparent. Gross’ book is approachable and straightforward, and overall, it is a fantastic read, even for those who do not study Black masculinities or Black boyhood.”

Book Launch Photos

On October 18, 2024 Brothers in Grief was launched at Public Trust in Philadelphia. The author was joined by Maxayn Gooden, Jaylen Frisby, and Dr. Christina Cho for a discussion and Q&A with the audience.

REVIEWS

  • “In this moving account of the impact of gun violence on urban Black boys and their communities, Nora Gross shares hard lessons about the collective impact of gun violence on emotional life, community bonds, learning, and more. Written with care and deep respect, this book is a must-read for anyone interested in the impact of gun violence on urban school communities.”

    —Natasha Warikoo, author of 'Race at the Top: Asian Americans and Whites in Pursuit of the American Dream in Suburban Schools'

  • "Brothers in Grief, an account of the afterlives of gun violence at one high school for Black boys, is simply astonishing. Nora Gross bears witness to these young men as they grieve together and privately, and to the consequences when the school tries to move forward from tragic loss. More than a needed portrait of the hidden tolls of gun violence and of the emotional worlds of Black boys, Brothers in Grief is a model of responsible, reflexive ethnography."

    —Freeden Blume Oeur, author of 'Black Boys Apart: Racial Uplift and Respectability in All-Male Schools'

  • "Brothers in Grief is a powerful, searing account of the impact of unceasing, premature death as a result of gun violence on the lives of Black teenage boys forever marked by the losses they are forced to endure. In a society that deems their lives eminently disposable and that largely fails to acknowledge their grief, this invaluable ethnographic account takes us inside a year in the life of students at a Philadelphia charter school who must contend with the loss of their friends and classmates and what it means to survive them."

    —Juliet Hooker, author of 'Black Grief/White Grievance: The Politics of Loss'

  • "Brothers in Grief is a heartbreaking and incisive analysis of a group of students who rarely appear on the evening news: Black boys who have lost friends, siblings, and cousins to gun violence. Gross vividly shows how schools are ill-prepared to help these boys cope with their loss, and highlights how the boys' deep friendships provide a source of solace and ultimately social action."

    —Deborah Carr, author of 'The Widower's Journey: Helping Men Rebuild After Their Loss'