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Overview
Tired of being hungry, cold, and dirty from living on the streets of New York City with a tribe of other homeless teenagers who are dying, one by one, a girl named Maybe ponders her future and longs for someone to care about her.Tired of being hungry, cold, and dirty from living on the streets of New York City with a tribe of other homeless teenagers who are dying, one by one, a girl named Maybe ponders her future and longs for someone to care about her.
Synopsis
Her street name is Maybe. She lives with a tribe of homeless teens — runaways and throwaways, kids who have no place to go other than the cold city streets, and no family except for one another. Abused, abandoned, and forgotten, they struggle against the cold, hunger, and constant danger.
With the frigid winds of January comes a new girl: Tears, a twelve-year-old whose mother doesn't believe Tears's stepfather abuses her. As the other kids start to disappear — victims of violence, addiction, and exposure — Maybe tries to help Tears get off the streets...if it's not already too late.
Publishers Weekly
Strasser's (Give a Boy a Gun) largely bleak novel centers on a group of homeless teens attempting to survive on the streets of New York City during a frigid winter. Several don't make it, victims of alcohol poisoning, strangulation or suicide. Narrator Maybe (wont to answer questions with that noncommittal word) escaped from an abusive home to join what she calls "an asphalt tribe that roamed the streets searching for food and shelter." Maybe's character gradually comes into focus and, as it does, Strasser reveals her perception of the dead-end life around her. Musing on the pain that one of her foundering friends feels, Maybe concludes, "It was a pain from inside. The pain of this cold, hungry, dirty life where nobody cared whether you lived or died. Where you were not even a name." However, the author does not delineate many of the other street urchins' characters. This season's The Blue Mirror by Kathe Koja and Ineke Holtjwik's Asphalt Angels paint a more realistic picture of life on the streets and the ways in which homeless kids can be exploited by others and by each other. For Maybe and for Tears, a 12-year-old who left home when her mother refused to believe that the girl's stepfather was sexually abusing her, there are hopeful futures-thanks to the intervention of a caring librarian. But repetitive scenes and dialogue at times stall the pace of the narrative and weaken its impact. Ages 12-up. (Apr.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
Editorials
Publishers Weekly
Strasser's (Give a Boy a Gun) largely bleak novel centers on a group of homeless teens attempting to survive on the streets of New York City during a frigid winter. Several don't make it, victims of alcohol poisoning, strangulation or suicide. Narrator Maybe (wont to answer questions with that noncommittal word) escaped from an abusive home to join what she calls "an asphalt tribe that roamed the streets searching for food and shelter." Maybe's character gradually comes into focus and, as it does, Strasser reveals her perception of the dead-end life around her. Musing on the pain that one of her foundering friends feels, Maybe concludes, "It was a pain from inside. The pain of this cold, hungry, dirty life where nobody cared whether you lived or died. Where you were not even a name." However, the author does not delineate many of the other street urchins' characters. This season's The Blue Mirror by Kathe Koja and Ineke Holtjwik's Asphalt Angels paint a more realistic picture of life on the streets and the ways in which homeless kids can be exploited by others and by each other. For Maybe and for Tears, a 12-year-old who left home when her mother refused to believe that the girl's stepfather was sexually abusing her, there are hopeful futures-thanks to the intervention of a caring librarian. But repetitive scenes and dialogue at times stall the pace of the narrative and weaken its impact. Ages 12-up. (Apr.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.Children's Literature
This dark, depressing, seemingly realistic look at a fictionalized group of runaways living on the streets of New York City opens with a quote by one of the characters, OG. "Here is where you are. There is where you want to be. But you can't get there from here." The runaways' story is told from the perspective of Maybe, who, along with the other homeless members of her makeshift street family (OG, Country Club, Jewel, 2Moro, Maggot, Rainbow and Tears) has been abused and rejected, tries to survive in a very dangerous world. One-page "rap sheets" on certain members of the group at the beginning of chapters foreshadow a desperate end. It is not all doom and gloom though; glimmers of light are found in a compassionate librarian and adult leaders of a group house. Maybe realizes at the conclusion of the book that OG's statement may have been wrong, and that maybe if you tried, you could get somewhere. This text does not contain foul language, but it does touch upon mature themes, such as sexual abuse, physical abuse, alcohol poisoning, suicide, drug use and prostitution. The author, a novelist for twenty-five years, has written many books for teenagers, including the award winning Give the Boy a Gun, which looks at school violence. Should be required reading for any child or grown up who ever contemplated running away from home. Recommended with caution for the younger end of the suggested age group because of mature thematic content. 2004 (orig. 1999), Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, Ages 12 up.—Cindy L. Carolan
VOYA
This novel about runaway teens on the streets of New York, a group ignored by society, does not hold anything back. As the loosely knit band struggles to survive, a girl with the street name "Maybe" narrates the cruel realities of hunger, drug abuse, HIV, prostitution, and death. Displaying distinct personalities but dependent on one another for food, shelter, and money, each teen has fled intolerable abuse at home, evoking sympathy from readers. Throughout the book, scenes of begging, abuse, despair, and oddly, the freedom of life on the streets will grab readers and not let go. Maybe refuses help from adult authority but is drawn to the kindness of a public librarian, perhaps because they both have a splotchy skin disorder called vitiligo. News articles of anonymous teens found dead (readers are aware of the circumstances behind each death) expound the book's powerful message. Each runaway vehemently guards his or her identity, but tough postures are slowly peeled away, revealing the hurt of the child. Many adult characters are depicted as either overly helpful or extremely brutal. Librarian Anthony in particular rushes too fast to protect the teens, offering food and use of his office without logically reporting the situation to professionals. That aside, the book is gritty and harsh, and urban teens will love it, being drawn into the story from early on when a cop warns members of the tribe, "You don't have a chance." VOYA Codes 4Q 4P J S (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; Broad general YA appeal; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2004, Simon & Schuster, 208p., Ages 12 to 18.—Rollie Welch