"Exploring West Brooklyn: Boyhood and Lawlessness; The Girl Abandoned" is a book consisting of two novels created by the famous American writer Mary Elizabeth Phillips. In these works, she explores the problems of children who grow up in the difficult conditions of a big city. "Boyhood and lawlessness" tells about the life of a teenager in the Brooklyn ghetto, about the problems he faces, fate and dreams. In "Abandoned Girl", the author addresses the problems of homelessness and loneliness in a big city, revealing the fate of a young girl who was out of the spotlight of society. This book helps the reader to better understand the complexity of human nature, the influence of the environment on the formation of personality, as well as the problems of social interaction.