Falling Through the Cracks

Dave Jenkinson is a professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Manitoba and the author of the “Portraits” section of Emergency Librarian.

This novel addresses a gritty subject: teen runaways and their life on
the street. After years of verbal abuse, Melanie, 16, runs away from
home. She is considering break-and-entry as a survival tool when another
runaway, Trent, offers her a place to stay. Trent, who works late-night
shifts at Donutworld while going to school, gets Melanie a waitressing
job. When Trent is fired, Melanie considers becoming pregnant in order
to be eligible for welfare. Then she discovers that Trent has been
prostituting himself to make ends meet.

While clearly identifying the no-win situations in which his
“blameless” characters find themselves, Choyce successfully walks
the line between turning the story into a didactic, cautionary tale and
making leaving home seem like an attractive option for dissatisfied
teens. A fine independent read, Falling Through the Cracks would make an
excellent classroom discussion starter. Recommended.