In Dois Amores (“Two Loves”) Lulu and Dudu are brothers. They live in Queimados, in the Baixada Fluminense, 50 kilometres from Rio. It’s a hot, dusty place with a lot of poverty and frequent violence. The two boys want to find a girlfriend. Above all, they want to kiss on the mouth. Now, the place to find a girlfriend is the funk party. But they need to look good, wearing colourful, branded trainers to impress. And to buy trainers you need money. Selling sweets on the train to Rio, mints outside the cinema, cleaning windscreens at the traffic lights. These are the cracks they find in the wall that excludes poor teenagers from the rest of society. And poor adults too. Their parents’ money barely covers the household diet: sausages, tomato and macaroni, flour, banana paste. Their mother is a cleaner, their father does odd jobs – when he can find them. For them too, the world is inaccessible; they too submit to the opportunities that come their way in order to keep the family afloat, covering their debts. In Queimados and in Rio – whether Copacabana and Leblon, the favelas or the dusty suburbs – Lulu and Dudu know that necessity and brutality are present in everything that happens, limiting their lives like a steel glove.

Over the past 30 years, the district of Mãe Luíza in Brazil’s northeastern city of Natal developed from a desolate favela into a functioning community. From the first humanitarian aid to construction of a gymnasium, this persistent process is outlined in short articles and essays in the second part of this richly illustrated volume. The documentation impressively demonstrates how transformation was achieved step by step with the help of many, laying the groundwork for ongoing progress. Less crime, better education, and a fairer society – much has been accomplished and even more is possible for the future. A story by bestselling author Paulo Lins (“City of God”) tells the stirring tale of the establishment of the Brazilian favela Mãe Luíza. Fleeing drought and deadly heat, the people there fought for a piece of land to call their own, hoping for a better life. Thanks to their optimism and solidarity, their vision gradually took shape.

Paulo Lins’ long-awaited new novel, Desde que o samba é samba (“Then There Was Samba“), depicts a colourful evolution of what was to become samba as it is known today, starring a multitude of vividly painted characters. The inhabitants of the red-light district in 1920s Rio de Janeiro are hassled by the police who despise their skin colour, their African rituals and their music. Yet through all this, they manage to present the world with a riveting new rhythm while falling in and out of love and dealing with their own everyday concerns, like the pimp Brancura who, trying to become a great musician, tries and fails to give up his reprobate life. Featuring plenty of lively dialogues, Paulo Lins’ novel is packed with action and passion.

Cidade de Deus (“City of God”) takes the reader to the heart of a famous favela in Rio de Janeiro. With the same keen observation that fuelled Richard Price’s Clockers, Lins explores the lives of its most intriguing and influential inhabitants, the gangsters. From the soccer fields to drug deals, from the sunny beaches to the violent fights, Lins follows the many stories of his young, brave and cruel characters. In a vivid, striking prose, Lins combines his knowledge of the favelas with an insider’s understanding. Both frightening and exhilarating, Paulo Lins’ story is alive with tension. Published in 1997, Cidade de Deus has been a bestseller for years. In May 2002 the film City of God, directed by Fernando Meirelles, was shown in Cannes with great success and obtained great reviews (Variety, Libération, Financial Times, The Guardian, Der Spiegel).