Book Review: Lullabies for Little Criminals

I don't read as often as I would like but when I sit down with the right book, boy is it a relaxing yet thrilling journey as I motor through the book in matter of a few days or less than 24 hours. Since we were celebrating our 5th anniversary over in Sechelt this past weekend, I ended up picking up a book from the library. I literally had no specific book in mind and walked through the fiction section for anything interesting.

And so I picked up 'Lullabies for little criminals' by Heather O'Neill

The story is of twelve year old 'Baby' (yes her name) living with her Heroin-addict father in the slums of Montreal. What fascinating insight and intrigue I received from this novel:
-that twelve year old street kids could have such amazing intelligence and such potential just like any other child their age with only one difference being the environment they are raised in
-why pimps favor child prostitution and the sad reality that kids trust those around them (ie. their pimps/addict parents) over any governmental support system our tax dollars go into
-how ineffective or non-existent social services or juvenile detection programs are for these street kids. I know this is just one story but those on the streets can only help each other and themselves, no one else

An easy read and definitely one you cannot put down. I was up past 3am reading! Although the author is not Canadian, she did spend her childhood living in Montreal. I enjoyed the Canadian content =)