The sad plight of homeless youth will be of particular interest to students. There is not a wealth of books on the topic, but in With No Direction Home: Homeless Youth on the Road and in the Streets Marni Finkelstein offers an engaging treatment of youth in New York City. Finkelstein interviewed fifty homeless youth whom she found to be nomadic and trying hard to create “fictive” families as substitutes for the families of origin they had left. The book is interspersed with photos and the youth’s own words, which are powerful.
Kristina Gibson came to know youth on the street primarily in her role as a youth outreach worker in New York City. In Street Kids: Homeless Youth, Outreach, and Policing New York’s Streets, Gibson presents an excellent description of youth outreach work as she observes and experiences it, making the book a very valuable contribution to the literature.
