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

by Susan Sheehan

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?

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Biography

194 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1993

Reviews

[Libscigrl · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hard to describe. Interesting, and a quick read, but MAN, the writing is terrible. The editor must have just skimmed through this because there were several times I had to re-read a sentence, not knowing what the author was trying to say. Mostly this was because of a lack of commas.

In addition, the book is all over the place. While all the stories are sad, and the amount of time they all spent in foster care is deplorable (as are the reasons they are all in foster care), jumping from one story to another provide no continuity. There are so many "characters" in this book, that the jumping around made it hard to keep track of who was who.

[Zsanelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review for me is a tricky one. If it were not for the poor writing, I would have awarded Life for Me Ain't Been No Crystal Stair four stars. The story is tragic and captivating. The characters, while having highly unlikeable qualities, are essentially just good humans struggling with addiction and responsibility issues. This was definitely a captivating read but read like a long article as opposed to a book or even short story. Many lines I had to read two or three times to understand the clarity of Sheehan's sentences. Overall, a short but powerful insight into the child welfare system. Recommended for people with interest in child development, marriage and family therapy, and social work.

[Seriously_Savy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The unfortunate heart-wrenching life story of a girl named Crystal
The book Life ain’t been no Crystal stair for me written by Susan Sheehan is the life story of Crystal Taylor women who struggled growing up in foster care and battled drug addiction in her family. This book will grab ahold of you, and make you open your eyes on what happens every day in the life of Crystal Taylor, when too many of us it's a nightmare. It’s one of the most shocking books that I have read in a long time.
This is a book that pulls you in and gets you invested in a young girl's life and the horrendous things that happen. Reading the books, you can not do anything to help her because all you are doing holding a pile of paper between your hands, thinking of what she should have done instead of what this young girl does.
“Some of the meetings with her mother were frustrating because Florence was often high or intoxicated. “My mother didn’t recognize me until I got right into her face.”
This book is a tear-jerker, learning what a young child had to endure to please his/her family. They couldn’t escape, because if they left where they were at, there was no place for them to go. The children in this book never got the comfort of the home, they never got to enjoy childhood, and they never got to take control of their own lives, they were a puppet on a string. It made me think about my own childhood, and how I lived in a small, rundown home, the floor has holes, the house-made noises at night but yet I had both parents and it was a home no matter how small or how broken because it had love. These children in this book, didn’t get to experience the feelings of love from their parents.
This book is graphic and discusses drug abuse, gun violence, foul words, and child abuse but can be given to a younger audience because they are our next generation and can create ways to he cycle of abuse, and addiction and can push their own friends to continue their education. If they are battling their own battles they can also learn, it can get better. This book taught me to never judge anyone, because you have no idea what they are going through. You have no idea if they have a home to go to, you have no idea how they live.
I recommend this book to anyone no matter what they want to do with their lives. It delivers a powerful message that cannot be ignored. It digs deep into the reader and then leaves a permanent mark, one that cannot be erased. It's a story that needs to be heard, it's a story that needed to be told.

[Cherianne · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am a CASA and picked up this book in our CASA office library. CASAs and their role are discussed at the very end of the book. The story itself is eye-opening, shedding light on how poverty, addiction, and foster care affect families for generations. The writing, as other reviewers point out, is terrible. Towards the end of the book, the writing literally reads like a social worker's report. There are so many characters and the author jumps around alot, so it's hard to keep track of who is who. Sometimes, she's telling the story of Crystal, sometimes, the story of her mother. I had to keep looking back a few pages to determine how someone was related to another. I have read so many childhood trauma books over the years and this is one of the most poorly written.

[Gabriella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this! I see a lot of other reviews saying the writing is bad which kinda baffles me. It's not bad at all, the grammar and flow are actually near perfect the whole way through. It's just a different style you wouldn't expect the find in a novel – and it isn't really a novel anyways, it's non-fiction.

The style is written very much like an article, or even a social services report. It seemed obvious to me it was written from the perspective of the foster care system itself to highlight the patterns of poverty and abuse that plague the families and children who find themselves in the system. My heart ached for Crystal and her family and I found the whole thing very poignant and fascinating!

[Patty Cooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating story

The story of 3 generations raised in Foster Care was an eye opener that leaves you cheering for the success.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title of this book is a reference to a poem by Langston Hughes that is probably taught in every high school in the U.S. about a mother that has worked hard against huge obstacles. This mother challenges her son to do the same, not to stop and rest.

Mother to Son
by Langston Hughes

Well, son, I'll tell you:
Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
It's had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor --
Bare.
But all the time
I'se been a-climbin' on,
And reachin' landin's,
And turnin' corners,
And sometimes goin' in the dark
Where there ain't been no light.
So boy, don't you turn back.
Don't you set down on the steps
'Cause you finds it's kinder hard.
Don't you fall now --
For I'se still goin', honey,
I'se still climbin',
And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.

This book is a case study of Crystal Taylor's life and family by Susan Sheehan. "Life ain't been no crystal stair" for Crystal primarily because of her mother. "Life ain't been no crystal stair" for her mother either, but not because she has had to work hard. It is because she is a crackhead with 5 children that she can't sustain.

This book begins by focusing on 14 year old middle school student Crystal who is pregnant by Daquan, her mother's 23 year old drug dealer. Crystal's mom got free drugs from Daquan during his sexual involvement with Crystal. Can you imagine a mother that would take that deal? While reading this book, I found myself cringing at the myriad of bad decisions made by all involved.

This book is told in a matter of fact tone. While realistic, interesting, and very believable, it is not explicit. I found the book fascinating and it revealed much about a segment of society generally overlooked.

In the afterword, Sheehan states, "Of all the people I have written books about, Crystal Taylor is my favorite." As I read this book, that feeling came through. The "characters" in this book are real people, not two dimensional figures. It is my hope that community leaders (not politicians) and families can help raise standards and improve lives through fellowship and encouragement.

I find it interesting that Langston Hughes' famous Harlem Renaissance poem is used in this case study of lives mired and ruined by drugs. The Harlem Renaissance was a great time of growth within the black community brought on by hard work within the community. This prompts the question, why was the 1920's a time of advancement and the 1980's (and beyond) a time of personal failure for so many? Are drugs the reason, or just a symptom?

[Victoria Cumberbatch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Damn. You think you know about welfare and desperation and generational substance abuse; but you probably don't. Assigned for my social work foundational course and took me three days. Be ready for entirely too many people to keep track of

[Julz · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must-read for anyone working with students from poverty!

[Elyssa · Rating 4 out of 5]

In my opinion, the best way to understand complex sociological issues is by reading about actual people who are immersed in them. This book is a good resource for such explorations.

[Robyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really hard to read but also equally difficult to put down. How is it that patterns that don't serve oneself are repeated generation to generation?

[Auntie · Rating 3 out of 5]

a slice of life that held my interest throughout

[B · Rating 4 out of 5]

362.7 Growing up in welfare, in various foster homes, etc. Interesting and sad

[Amy Wilder · Rating 3 out of 5]

What I learned from this book: I was seventeen when I read this and I think you could say I learned that life could be much much worse.

[Ceema Samimi · Rating 3 out of 5]

At times I felt like I was reading a senior thesis, but the story shows the complexity of generational poverty and trauma. A goo read for a beginning social work student or similar.