He was fired for teaching a Langston Hughes poem, as described in Death at an Early Age, and then became deeply involved in the civil rights movement.

Kozol's contributions include the interpretation of scientific research into the roots of compassion, altruism, and peaceful human relationships.

[citation needed] Death at an Early Age, his first non-fiction book, is a description of his first year as a teacher in the Boston Public Schools.

His 1995 book, Amazing Grace: The Lives of Children and the Conscience of a Nation, described his visits to the South Bronx of New York City, the poorest congressional district in the United States.

He published Ordinary Resurrections: Children in the Years of Hope in 2000 and The Shame of the Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America was released September 13, 2005.