Life for Me Ain't Been No Crystal Stair: One Family's Passage Through the Child Welfare System

By Susan Sheehan

Book Overview

On October 7, 1984, Crystal Taylor gave birth to a baby boy whom she named Daquan. Crystal was only fourteen. She was living with a boyfriend whom she was too young to marry, and her mother was addicted to heroin and cocaine. So under the law, Crystal and Daquan became wards of New York State's foster-care system--a sprawling, often slipshod web of boarding facilities, halfway houses, and paid surrogates that cares for almost 60,000 children. Life for Me Ain't Been No Crystal Stair is the story of what happened to Crystal and Daquan, as well as to Crystal's mother, who herself had grown up in various foster homes. It is a story of three generations of poverty, addiction, and abuse--and also a story of astonishing human resilience. And Susan Sheehan tells it with the same flawless observation, humor, and compassion that she brought to her classic Is There No Place on Earth for Me?

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0679754504
• ISBN13: 9780679754503
• Release Date: September 1994
• Publisher: Vintage
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.2" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Devastating!

I devoured this book in one night. I was shocked and saddened by the story of this young woman and her family's history with the New York Foster Care system. The thing that surprised me most about the book is the family's unwavering hope that someday they would be reunited, despite the horrible poverty and dysfunction in their lives.

Moving story

This book was an account of a young woman's life from early childhood to young adulthood. Crystal Taylor and her siblings were shuffled from foster home to foster home, a pattern that was similar to that of their mother's life style. Crystal became involved in theft, drugs, and sex. She became a teenage parent at 14 years of age. Crystal and her siblings were a part of the welfare social system, as well as Crystal's baby boy. "Life for me ain't been no crystal stair" is a moving story of an individual's experience. It is an eye opener of the effects and drawbacks of poverty in a life.

RESOUNDING SORROW

The tragic tone of "Crystal's" life could not be made more clear than if one was living it as well. Psychotic and confused, Crystal is all too familiar with an unstable home life. Her mother's boyfriend impregnates her and Crystal, barely out of elementary school becomes a casualty of the system. She makes the rounds of hospitals, treatment centers and schools. At each stop she wonders what place exists for her and her child.This author provides a calming voice of reason to Crystal's plight. To her credit, she does not villify or condemn even the harshest of people and conditions. She writes in a tone of respect and even acceptance. If nothing else, this book is a reminder of each person's duty to care about the needs of others.

A thought-provoking look at a modern teenage mom's life.

I enjoyed reading this book. It was REAL. It covers the lives of three generations in the foster care system. The main character is a teenage mom who puts her baby son in foster care while she herself is a client of the foster care system. It was gritty and authentic. I felt I was living beside the characters. I really understood how it feels to grow up in the ghetto. Susan Sheehan is an excellent writer. She has pointed out some of the faults in our society.