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Journal Entry 2 by goatgrrl from New Westminster, British Columbia Canada on Wednesday, February 14, 2007
 Lullabies for Little Criminals tells the story of twelve year old Baby (her given name), who as the novel begins is living with her twenty-seven year old father Jules in a squalid apartment in Montreal’s red light district. Baby’s parents were fifteen years old when she was born, and her mother, Manon, died when Baby was an infant. Baby loves Jules, despite his precarious hold on adulthood, his unpredictability, his abject irresponsibility and his heroin addiction. And on a good day, Jules loves Baby back.
Heather O’Neill writes straight from the heart, and Baby’s character is at once loveable, hilarious and terrifying. Lullabies is an honest, gentle and intelligent exploration of some incredibly challenging topics: addiction, poverty, child prostitution, the social welfare system and the underlying question of whether – for kids whose parents have fallen far enough off the grid – there’s any such thing as childhood at all. Seen from one angle it’s a pretty bleak tale, but I loved the kids in this book, and their exuberance, hilarity, oddness and (as Baby would say) holiness will be with me for some time to come.
Lullabies for Little Criminals is a 2007 Canada Reads selection, defended by John K. Samson of the indie band The Weaktherthans. You can read an interview with author Heather O'Neill at CBC's Words at Large website here, and a review in the Toronto Star here.
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Journal Entry 3 by goatgrrl from New Westminster, British Columbia Canada on Thursday, February 22, 2007
I'm taking Lullabies for Little Criminals to give to my sister-in-law in Courtenay, British Columbia, who I think will enjoy it.
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Lullabies for Little Criminals
