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A review by annmariereads
At the Edge of the Haight by Katherine Seligman
4.0
I’ve got to say, this book was super eye-opening about homelessness, especially in the day-to-day details we might never otherwise think about.
This book follows Maddy who is homeless, twenty-years old, and living in San Francisco. She knows the lay of the land and is able to get by. However, one day she accidentally sees another homeless boy get murdered and it changes everything. She's living in fear of the murderer finding her and to make things even more complicated, the dead boy's parents want to talk with her and bond with her in a way they were never able to with their son. In this coming-of-age story, Maddy has to make some decisions about her life - will she live it for herself or for the adults in her life?
Visiting San Francisco, one of the things that surprised me and many others that go there, is the number of the homeless population. I drew on those memories and images while reading this book. The city also makes a fascinating setting for this book, too. On one end you have the aging hippie vibes of the 60s and 70s and on the opposite end you have this terribly expensive tech yuppie lifestyle. This clash in cultures definitely affects the homeless population of the city, in good ways and bad.
Following Maddy showed so many of the parts of homelessness I'd never thought about. Where do you go during the daytime? How do you sleep outside in the rain? How can you charge a phone if you have one? How can you trust others not to steal your stuff? These and not to mention hunger, the limited space of shelters, how easy it is to have a run in with law enforcement, and hygiene needs have all been stuck in my head, even weeks after reading.
I've seen some folks talk about how jumpy and choppy this book feels as you're reading it, but that feels purposeful to me. Maddy's life is not a smooth one. It changes every day, even on a dime. Seligman's writing did a great job of conveying this. Definitely pick this one up
This book follows Maddy who is homeless, twenty-years old, and living in San Francisco. She knows the lay of the land and is able to get by. However, one day she accidentally sees another homeless boy get murdered and it changes everything. She's living in fear of the murderer finding her and to make things even more complicated, the dead boy's parents want to talk with her and bond with her in a way they were never able to with their son. In this coming-of-age story, Maddy has to make some decisions about her life - will she live it for herself or for the adults in her life?
Visiting San Francisco, one of the things that surprised me and many others that go there, is the number of the homeless population. I drew on those memories and images while reading this book. The city also makes a fascinating setting for this book, too. On one end you have the aging hippie vibes of the 60s and 70s and on the opposite end you have this terribly expensive tech yuppie lifestyle. This clash in cultures definitely affects the homeless population of the city, in good ways and bad.
Following Maddy showed so many of the parts of homelessness I'd never thought about. Where do you go during the daytime? How do you sleep outside in the rain? How can you charge a phone if you have one? How can you trust others not to steal your stuff? These and not to mention hunger, the limited space of shelters, how easy it is to have a run in with law enforcement, and hygiene needs have all been stuck in my head, even weeks after reading.
I've seen some folks talk about how jumpy and choppy this book feels as you're reading it, but that feels purposeful to me. Maddy's life is not a smooth one. It changes every day, even on a dime. Seligman's writing did a great job of conveying this. Definitely pick this one up