No House to Call My Home: Love, Family, and Other Transgressions

Author: Berg, Ryan

Edition: Reprint

Features:

• Nation Books

Number Of Pages: 320

Details:

In this lyrical debut, Ryan Berg immerses readers in the gritty, dangerous, and shockingly underreported world of homeless LGBTQ teens in New York. As a caseworker in a group home for disowned LGBTQ teenagers, Berg witnessed the struggles, fears, and ambitions of these disconnected youth as they resisted the pull of the street, tottering between destruction and survival. Focusing on the lives and loves of eight unforgettable youth, No House to Call My Home traces their efforts to break away from dangerous sex work and cycles of drug and alcohol abuse, and, in the process, to heal from years of trauma. From Bella's fervent desire for stability to Christina's irrepressible dreams of stardom to Benny's continuing efforts to find someone to love him, Berg uncovers the real lives behind the harrowing statistics: over 4,000 youth are homeless in New York City -- 43 percent of them identify as LGBTQ. Through these stories, Berg compels us to rethink the way we define privilege, identity, love, and family. Beyond the tears, bluster, and bravado, he reveals the force that allows them to carry on -- the irrepressible hope of youth.

Reviews:

"Managing to be both journalistic and novelistic, Berg provides intimate portraits of LGBTQ youths who are left to fend for themselves. Compelling from the first page No House to Call My Home is unflinchingly candid in its portrayal of a broken system, and a broken society where abandoning youths is overlooked. Berg allows the brilliance and resilience of these young people to shine bright. The adversity they face should enrage you; their courage and grace will move you." —Richard Blanco, author of The Prince of los Cocuyos: A Miami Childhood

"In No House to Call My Home Berg has given us an antidote to the numbness that comes with reading the statistics on homeless queer youth in America. He's given us their stories. In harrowing, vivid detail, he shows us, through his own experience of working with them, the lives of these young people of color as they struggle through the neglect of adults, the indifference of bureaucracies, and the harsh realities of fending for themselves in a cold world. Again and again, what they are denied is dignity. Which is what this book tries in its own way to give them back, and which is what any social cause requires to initiate lasting change—the opening of empathy." —Adam Haslett, National Book Award Finalist and author of Union Atlantic

"Ryan Berg opens a window into the troubled, often ignored world of New York City's foster care system, and by extension, America. No House to Call My Home is an important work that will be a revelation for many." —Saïd Sayrafiezadeh, author of Brief Encounters With the Enemy and When Skateboards Will Be Free

"In No House to Call My Home Ryan Berg takes us into the New York foster care system—where he worked for two years as a residential counselor in a group home for LGBTQ youth of color—and gives us, along the way, an earnest, heartfelt, and deeply compassionate portrait of that most fundamental of human needs: to be loved unconditionally. Berg is a brave and clear-eyed writer, and this profoundly important book should be required reading for anyone wishing to be a better ally—or, for that matter, for anyone wishing to be a better human being." —Lacy M. Johnson, National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist and author of The Other Side

"Ryan Berg's No House to Call My Home takes readers inside the New York State foster care system, where LGBTQ youth who have been abandoned or abused are housed in order to keep them off the streets and out of harm. Residential counselors advise and advocate for these kids, helping them to negotiate institutional red tape, visits with their real families, education, employment and recovery. Berg's chronicle of the lives of the young residents at the 401 and Keap Street shows how much adversity they face and how much strength they draw from one another. These kids are sma...

EAN: 9781568585680

Release Date: 23-08-2016

Languages: English

Item Note: Great shape- pages are unmarked and sharp.Has a remainder mark. Paperback Used - Like New Ships fast! 2016Reprint

Item Condition: UsedLikeNew

Binding: Paperback