With recent economic downturns and the COVID 19 pandemic, we’ve been reminded that people in our community are experiencing homelessness every day. There are many ways to help, including donating to local agencies and food pantries (our own Community Corner is now open at The Floyd County Library), but another great way to be a part of the solution is to learn more about the issue. One way to learn more about homelessness is to read some of the many excellent books on the topic, written for all different ages, some penned by those with their own personal experiences around homelessness. Here are just a few options, for children and adults, from our library collection that you can check out for yourself.
Books for Children:
Crenshaw by Katherine Applegate (2015), 245 pages. (audiobook on CD) (eAudiobook on Overdrive/Libby)
A boy finds out that money is tighter than ever at home and that the family may have to live in their van again. Will his imaginary friend – a large, talking cat – be any help or comfort?
Dear Librarian by Lydia M. Sigwarth (2021). (eAudiobook on Hoopla) (movie on Hoopla) (read along movie on Hoopla)
Lydia and her family haven’t had a permanent place to stay in a long time, bouncing around from relative to relative, but the local library is the one consistent place that always feels like home.
A Dog Called Homeless by Sarah Lean (2012), 202 pages. (ebook on Hoopla)
A grieving girl starts to heal through her friendships with a homeless man, a disabled boy, and very special dog.
Simon B. Rhymin’ by Dwayne Reed (2021), 230 pages.
Simon, a quiet boy who dreams of being a rapper, finds a way to speak up about an issue in his Chicago community.
Still a Family by Brenda Reeves Sturgis (2017).
A young girl and her family live in a homeless shelter, and her dad has to live separately in a men’s shelter, but she knows that they are still a family.
Books for Adults:
Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond (2016), 418 pages. (Large Type) (ebook from Overdrive/Libby)
This gripping narrative nonfiction account describes the experiences of eight families in Milwaukee whose lives were disrupted by the reality or threat of eviction.
A Gift of Hope: Helping the Homeless by Danielle Steel (2012), 128 pages.
Famed author Danielle Steel recounts her experiences working with the homeless population of San Francisco anonymously for eleven years.
The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeannette Walls (2005), 288 pages. (ebook from Overdrive/Libby)
The author tells the story of her childhood, growing up with eccentric but irresponsible parents who remained homeless even as she grew up and worked her way out of poverty. Her story become a major motion picture in 2017.
Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler (1993), 345 pages. (ebook from Hoopla) (eAudiobook from Hoopla)
This dystopian vision of the early 2020s, written in the 1990s, tells of a teenage girl fighting to survive the collapse of society, brought on by climate change, economic crisis, water shortages, and masses of people forced from their homes.
What Strange Paradise by Omar El Akkad (2021), 235 pages.
This fictional account of the global refugee crisis focuses on two children who are making their way in the world when their entire home countries no longer have a place for them.
Happy reading!
-Teresa Moulton, Public Service Leader
