On March 5, the Book Club discussed Lullabies for Little Criminals, by
Heather O’Neill. Winner of Canada Reads
in 2007 and finalist for the Governor
General’s Literary Awards, Lullabies
has been making waves since its release 3 years ago. It tells the story of Baby,
twelve and growing up fast, as she navigates life on the streets in Montreal.
Her dad’s a druggie, Baby is moved between cheap apartments, friends’ houses,
and the occasional foster home, and over the course of 330 pages we are brought
along as she is sucked in, childishly hopeful, to a life of drugs, prostitution
and crime.
Baby is open-minded, adventurous, and
friendly, but she wants love and affirmation from her father, and when she
doesn’t get it, she looks elsewhere. Having grown up comfortable with life on
the street, it is only natural that she turns to the eccentric and odd-ball
characters that she finds there to fill in the many blanks left by Jules’
careless parenting.
The Book Club discussed how Jules’, as a
father, is well-intentioned but neglectful.For example, to teach Baby a lesson, he locks her out of the house. Without
a place to stay, and fearing the worst – that her Jules must not love her at
all anymore – she is driven straight to Alphonse, a drug-dealing pimp. Alphonse
provides for Baby and makes her feel loved, and in return, Baby does whatever
he asks. Alphonse, too, is a product of his neighbourhood. He seems to think
that his relationship with Baby is the real thing, although that doesn’t
prevent him from abusing her, or arranging tricks for her most nights of the
week. Jules doesn’t want Baby to use drugs, or “whore around”, but his actions
leave her with few other choices. What cause, then, whose fault?
Although it seems that Baby feels acutely
that there is much she is missing, her life is nonetheless ‘normal’ to her. The
Book Club discussed what kind of future a character like Baby could have. Is it
possible to change the trajectory of one’s life? Would Baby escape a life of
drugs and prostitution? What is the legacy of a childhood like hers?
We know that many children are caught up in
vicious cycles of prostitution, addiction, poverty, and crime. Child
prostitution is an all too familiar reality, and the Book Club spent some time
discussing the relationships between pimps, gangs, drugs, and prostitution –
and some of the solutions that are being implemented here in Edmonton.
But we know Baby is headed for trouble long
before she turns her first trick, before her pimp gets her hooked on heroin. Because
of the childhood that she had, because of her precarious life on and off the
streets, this kind of fate seems inevitable. What are the roots of these types
of situations? Could this story have been different? We discussed the intervention
that might have enabled Jules to provide a safer and healthier life for Baby. If Jules and Baby’s mother had been supported
as teen parents instead of shunned, would things have been different? If they
had received income support, help with parenting and child care, provided with
adequate housing, been supported in finishing their education and possibly
working – how would their lives have changed?
Although Baby and Jules are characters in a
fictitious book, their story is one that is real and familiar to many.Lullabies
for Little Criminals forces us to ask ourselves, “How? Why?” Who is
responsible to make sure that children do not have to sell their bodies for
love? How do we make sure that this responsibility is fulfilled? Do we assign
blame to an individual, to a policy, to a situation, or to our government? Are
we implicated?
On May 7, we’ll be discussing Some Great Thing by Lawrence Hill. He’s
the author of the recently acclaimed Book
of Negroes. Join us, it’s bound to be another great discussion!
I found the book to be entertaining while giving insight into the "normalizing" effect. You grow up thinking that what you live is normal never realizing that others do not share your views.
the marginalized populations do not choose to live life in that manner--it's obvious they never understand there are alternatives.
This book gave a name and a face to the addicted and the children of addicts that makes them more human in my mind and more importantly makes us understand they are worthy of help and will seek it if the opportunity comes to them.
I loved the book--but then again I usually enjoy literature and movies that focus on the life and mind of the underdog.
Sunday, 05 February 2012 
