BOOK REVIEW

by MERRI LLOYD

One thing I've always liked about memoirs is that you are reading something that actually happened. No matter how mundane the story is, you're getting a slice of someone's life, someone's brain. StreetChild by Justin Early is anything but mundane. Here is the story of a ten year old child who ends up on the streets, left to himself, except for the family that he's able to make from the other street children. This book completely pulled me in. Here I was, reading about Justin's life, and something bad would happen to him, like when he's picking up a trick, or he's getting high, and I'd forget that he was only just a kid. My childhood wasn't like that… Then suddenly, a well-placed photo would appear, and there he was, immediately reminding me that hey, he's only a baby. His whole narrative was great. The way he described his life with his street family alternated jarring things like the photos and realities of living on the street with normal scenes of hanging out with friends and the bonds they formed, which in a way made it more harrowing. Reading this book, I felt like I knew Justin. I started caring about him and what was happening. I cared so much that I'd have to take breaks from the book, and read other books. I cared so much that I started dreaming about things from the book. He'd be doing good, then something bad would happen, and I'd actually get mad at him. I'd tell my friends, 'Justin is so stupid! How could he do that?!?' I'd go from sad, to proud, then in awe, then mad, back to proud… literally an emotional rollercoaster. I admit, I can get overly into books, but it's not every book that will be able to affect me that way. The storyline was reminiscent of Jeanette Walls' The Glass Castle, with the writing style more like Michelle Tea, but still different.
All I can say is that I'm impressed with this book, and this man. He was able to overcome street life, addiction, his family's prejudices, his own homophobia, coming out, HIV, and the loss of countless friends and family and pick himself up and become successful and write a book. That's just awesome. If you have time, and you're in the area, he will be coming to speak at the Different Light Bookstore here in Castro in San Francisco at 7:30pm on February 18th. If you can't make it (maybe you live nowhere near here) to that or his other stops, pick up the book.

By Nicole Baltimore

02/27/2009

  I really enjoyed reading Street Child An Unpaved Passage by Justin Reed Early. This book is about the life of Justin Reed Early as a young child on the streets.  It talks about important issues such as child abuse, sexuality and homelessness.  This book gave a real and unspoken look of the behind the scenes of life in the street for children.

This book was well written, easy to follow and very interesting book.  I would recommend this book to read.


Nicole Baltimore, MD

SAN FRANCISCO BAY GUARDIAN

StreetChild: An Unpaved Passage

Hard luck memoirs have grown extra cheap in recent years, partly due to the celebration of bogus ones. Justin Reed Early's StreetChild: An Unpaved Passage (AuthorHouse, 289 pages, $19.98) is no such thing. While authenticity is far from the be-all or end-all when it comes to writing, it does have value, and Early's story is both true and — even as it quotes tons of pop and house music lyrics — unsentimental enough to recognize salvation in an abusive parent's cancer. It includes time spent on Polk Street and Pike Place, and it intersects the 1984 documentary Streetwise. He's sharing it with kids living on the streets today, through readings and outreach work. (Huston)

Our Seattle launch and BOOKREADING DINNER / FUNDRAISER was SOLD OUT!!!!

Thank you to YOUTHCARE Staff, special Guest TOM SKERRITT and for everyone who contributed to such a magical evening.