An Innocent Voice

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Recommended: Introduction to emotions

Throughout the novel Lullabies for Little Criminals, there are a number of scenes that will make a readers skin crawl, and many that will make one want to cry. Emotions and opinions are evoked that many authors do not have the ability to bring to surface. At times readers despise the actions and decisions made by every character in this book, and are finding themselves literally frustrated sick at the amount they have emotionally invested in the characters. However, Heather O’Neil uses the innocent mind and voice of a young female main character named Baby to develop a relationship between the reader and the text that fills the pages. Readers are finding themselves becoming invested in the emotional and physical stability of the characters, and craving more at the end of each page. Through her storytelling, O’Neill has readers wrapped around her finger as they are watching over Baby’s shoulder, and feeling the same emotions that Baby describes. O’Neil takes this piece to a whole other level by transporting a readers mind out of the real world and into an imagined reality. Lullabies for Little Criminals takes the reader on a beautiful yet very vivid and harsh journey through some of the realities and struggles of things like prostitution, drugs and depression.
Throughout the novel, readers fall in love with a teenage main character that is struggling to co-exist and find her true identity in the midst of worldly influences. Heather O’Neil allows her readers to be engaged and understand the harsh, raw and devastating realities of the world around us. However, she beautifully orchestrates this journey and relationship between the reader and the characters of the novel. This piece of literature has funny moments; moments tha...

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...s of engaging the reader and forcing them to emotionally invest in the story and characters that she meticulously developed.
“Lullabies for Little Criminals” takes the reader on a beautiful yet very vivid and harsh journey through some of the realities and struggles of things like prostitution, drugs and depression. Overall, this novel beautifully orchestrates an authentic and emotional connection between the reader and the characters that O’Neil develops. O’Neil uses point of view, voice, atmosphere and language in a creative and very effective way throughout the pages of this book. She indulges her readers in an adventure, with highs and lows that keep her audience engaged and excited about what is to come. The element of realism intertwined with the creative imagination that O’Neil possesses results in a brilliant masterpiece that is definitely worth a read.

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