Customer Reviews

Can't Get There from Here

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

" 'I'm so gross! I'm disgusting! I can't stand it!' Rainbow laughed crazily as she pulled me down the sidewalk about a block from Canal Street.
" 'You look beautiful to me,' I said.
" 'Oh, Maybe, what would you know? You're even smellier and dirtier than me.'
" 'I am?' Even though I knew that all of us street kids were dirty and smelly, it still made me feel bad to hear Rainbow say it. That wasn't the way I wanted her to think of me.
" 'Aw, look, I hurt your feelings.' Rainbow stuck out her lower lip and pouted. 'I'm sorry, Maybe. But I'm dirty and smelly, too. We're the dirty and smelly twins!' She hooked her arm through mine and started to skip. I tried to keep up with her. It made me happy when she wanted to be with me. Then she let go and did a cartwheel right in the middle of the sidewalk. The regular people looked at her like she was psycho."

Each of them has some real or imagined story about how they got there. But here they are: a small tribe of street urchins hostage to the natural and human elements of a winter on the streets in Manhattan. The story is told by Maybe, a girl with a highly visible skin condition, vitiligo, who has been here since last summer.

CAN'T GET THERE FROM HERE provides a vivid portrait of being there all the time, on your own, on the street, in the filth of alleys and doorways, with the nightly fear of being preyed on and the daily tasks of survival.

"Cold wind ripping
down the alley at dawn
And the morning paper flies,
Dead man lying
by the side of the road
With the daylight in his eyes."
--Neil Young "Don't Let It Bring You Down"

As you could imagine this is an unforgiving environment where twenty-somethings are perceived as old and worn out and there are plenty of kids who don't make it:

Yet every time CAN'T GET THERE FROM HERE threatens to totally veer toward the hopeless and morbid, we are reminded that these are kids. Real kids. Silly kids. Sensitive kids. Stubborn kids. Questioning kids:

" 'Are you serious?' the man asked, nodding at Maggot's 'Money for Maryjuana' sign.
" 'Why not?' Maggot answered. 'If the sign said, "Money for Food," would you believe it? Least I'm honest.'
" 'At least you ought to spell it right,' said the woman.
"Maggot turned the sign around and looked at it. 'I spelled "money" wrong?'
"The man smiled. 'He's got a sense of humor.'
" 'Not for long if I don't score some pot,' Maggot warned them."

A quick online search finds estimates from a few years ago of 12,000-20,000 homeless youth in New York City. Nearly two-thirds are black or Latino. A disproportionate share are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender, because adolescents in those groups are routinely jettisoned by their families and are frequently unwelcome in their schools or in foster homes. Many homeless teens are children of the victims of the mid-1980s crack epidemic. A study found one-third of those street kids surveyed engaged in prostitution in order to obtain money. There is a high expectation among street kids that they will contract AIDS.

CAN'T GET THERE FROM HERE is one of those books to grab me by the throat and slam me against the wall. Like Spaz from Rodman Philbrick's THE LAST BOOK IN THE UNIVERSE, Maybe's "defect" is her savior. That highly visible skin condition ironically leaves her as a less visible target than 2Moro, Rainbow, Tears, Jewel and so many other kids in her position, thus allowing her to be the perfect observer and narrator for the story.

Homeless teens have no voice, no vote, few choices, and zero power. By melding remnants of childhood joy and innocence with the bitter bleakness of life and death in filthy alleys and dumpsters, Todd Strasser has written a story that will be the root of nightmares, prolonged discussions and, hopefully, change.

Have you ever felt like running away? If so, then you should read Can`t Get There From Here by Todd Strasser. He gives you the down to truth reality about living on the streets of New York. Maybe is a young teenager that has runaway from her family because her mom has forgotten she existed, she would rather have her daughter running through the streets of New York instead of a safe home. Forming a street family, Maybe, along the her friends Rainbow and Maggot, face the cold bitter New York alone with no help from anybody and yet everybody telling them they should go home and that they could die out here. Even though they believe they should go home they don`t even try to help them. There hiding behind buildings, kicked-off of the side walks, barely hanging on for their lives. Read this book to find their future if it`s not too late, and think again before you run away.

This book was very interesting. Whenever I pick up a book like this I expect it to all be great in the end, but I'm glad that this one didn't exactly tell the ending because I can't stand happy-go-lucky books where everything is perfect, la-dee-dee. But yet Maybe changes throughout the book, and that made this book fun and enjoyable. Of course, I was really sad when I thought about how this is how many people live in New York City. It just really bothers me.
This was a very down-to-earth novel about a girl named Maybe who lives in New York City, and she's homeless because her mom doesn't want her. She lives with her own "tribe" of other homeless kids, and when most of them leave or die she realizes that she can't live the rest of her life like that. Because she wouldn't have a life anymore because she'll probably die before she's 18.
Very quick, and an eye-opener.

This is a great read.The character's seem so real.You get lost in the story and feel like your one with them.They make you laugh and cry.You will hate Bobby.Yet love Tears,Maybe,Maggot,Rainbow,Jewel OG and Pest.It makes you think twice about how we might view the homeless.Yet most it tugs at your heart.A wonderful Book

Can't Get There From Here By Todd Strasser, was an overall heart-touching book. It's bout a girl named Maybe who grew up in the circus and was kicked out of her home when she was 16 because there was no more room for her. Maybe moves to New York City with no home, no money, and no friends.
Later, she meets a group of people that share the same similarities as her, they all live on the street with no parents, and no one who cares about them. This book will put you through all the things that she went through like the struggle and its very descriptive with pain. It changed my whole outlook on life and made me really think. You say you `hate your life' but when you read this book, you'll be so thankful that you have your parents, your family, and your friends. All of her friends turn to drugs, prostitution, suicide, or they just get sick from the cold and disease. Maybe meets a man at a local library and he saves her and one friends lives.
If you like to read about teenage struggle or just struggle itself, then I do recommend this book. I was unable to put it down! It really changed my outlook on everything.

Maybe thinks she is out of choices. A young teen with a skin coloration problem living on the streets of New York, Maybe watches as, one by one, the friends she hangs with die from disease, abuse and illness. Raw and relentless, Todd Strasser brings readers right into this survival story.

Other teens on the street with Maybe include Maggot, Rainbow, Jewel and then Tears, a 12-year-old runaway. Their life consists of "spanging" (begging for spare change), trying to earn money by cleaning windshields, and finding food and shelter. Getting clean is a luxury, and Rainbow and Maybe are sexually harassed when they try to clean up in a public library washroom.

A night in a youth shelter shows Maybe that a warm bed comes at the price of rules, but may just be worth it. Another night in a posh club where men try to own and sell her friends makes her think that there might be a better path for young Tears.

Hope comes in the form of a librarian with the same skin disorder as Maybe. She makes some calls for Tears and gives the girls food and much-needed encouragement. Then the rest of the gang begins to disperse to both good and bad places. Soon, Maybe begins to want life rather than the death she sees all around her.

An excellent book with no easy answers, CAN'T GET THERE FROM HERE is unforgettable.

--- Reviewed by Amy Alessio

The seller sent the book in the condition stated, and the book shipped before the estimated arrival date. Excellent!

this book is about a family of teenagers and at first its confuseing and your kind of lost and there are a bunch of chacekters and yeah you half to read threw it and it chatches on and makes more since

As a High School student, we are highly encouraged to read, read, read! I'm a person who is VERY picky about what I read. Today, I'm stuck with over rated books like Twilight, Harry Potter, etc. I disliked both and finding a book was difficult because the shelves are filled with same crap! Finally, I saw this book. I read the back and it sounded interesting.

The book is about Maybe (that's her street name) who is one of many street kids who lives in New York City with no home, no food and no future. Her best friend is Rainbow, and her other companions are Maggot, 2Moro, Jewel, O.G and a newcomer, Tears. Maybe tells about her heartbreaking experiences, especially when she and Rainbow are sexually assulted in the public library bathroom. This incident sets up her friendship with Anthony, a redhead ginger-looking librarian with the same odd skin condition as Maybe. Sadly, her street friends fade away one by one. Finally, Maybe eventually realizes that she can't keep this homeless, "rule-free" life up much longer...

The book is a little slow and a bit confusing at first. But, as you read more and learn more about the characters, you can't put the book down! You start to feel Maybe's pain and you really want to learn what happens to her. You also want her to be happy, but realize that would take time. You feel emotionally attached to her and hope she makes it out. Maybe is, to me, one of the most strongest book heroines' I ever really cared for!

So, in conclusion, put down Twilight, and read a book with an actual good meaning, and characters you can actually care about and relate to!!!

I think this was a very well written book about how kids are all homeless and it teaches the reader that you cant be anything on the streets. No one will care if you die and you'll just be an unmarked grave. Which is what Country club probably was as we read in the second chapter that he passes away. I think this book has just the right amount of detail and dialouge. At first it didnt catch my attention but as you start to read more into the book its difficult to put it down. you wonder who will die next? what will happen to the rest of the characters? This book is also faced with a very young homeless girl named tears who is 12 years of age. She still has a chance to be somebody and get off the streets before its too late. You should deffinatly read this book.