The subject matter of homeless young people surviving on the streets is one that is rich for storytelling. To me, this book missed the mark. The experience of reading it sometimes mirrored life on the streets; at times it was confused and chaotic, other times it was boring and uncomfortable. However, it is a YA book, so readers younger than I may have a different, more favorable opinion of this book. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book pulled me in from the beginning. A homeless girl with a dog that witnesses a murder! The author did an amazing job of portraying a part of society that most people know nothing about. Excellent!

Maddy Donaldo and her dog Root and friends Ash, Hope and Fleet live in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. One day, Maddy witnesses the murder of a young homeless boy. His parents try to talk to her about what she saw and attempt to reunite her with her estranged family, but their efforts are unsuccessful. Maddy must make her own decisions about how she'll live and survive each day.
I picked up this book because I thought it was a murder mystery. It's definitely not. Instead, it's a look at life on the streets for teens and adults of all ages. Told from the perspective of a homeless adult, the book also shares strategies others use to prevent or eliminate homelessness.
I appreciate the awareness this book brings to the needs of the homeless population in cities around the world. As the acknowledgments note, over 275 died in one year alone on the streets of San Francisco. I never connected emotionally with any of the main characters, though, and felt like an outsider looking in rather than an active participant in the story. I give the book 3 stars instead of 2 because it does provide invaluable insight into the physical, emotional and mental realities of life on the street.

Starts off strong but writing was a little too YA for me. Deep topics and very sad story. I felt it was a very good portrayal of the homeless situation in our nation.

This book is a magnetic look at a group of young people who, through different circumstances, are living in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. Katherine Seligman, a journalist in San Francisco, has a reporter’s eye for the details that make a story sing and empathy for the people she writes about.

All the characters in this novel are intriguing, especially the main character and narrator, 20-year-old Maddy Donaldo. Maddy has had a troubled relationship with her parents, an unhappy past in another home, and she eventually lands on the streets. Maddy is strong, determined and not at all like the preconceived idea I had of a young homeless person.

She witnesses the aftermath of a murder in the park. Her dog Root drags her through the brush and she stumbles on young man dying and an older homeless man nearby. Later the police investigate and she begins to retrace what might have led to the young man’s murder. Along the way, readers get to see what “living outside” is really like for a growing population of people in San Francisco. The details here, from their experiences in shelters,, “boot camp” programs in the desert that are designed to turn their lives around, relationships with the beat cops who they interact with daily, how they scrounge for food and money, are all fascinating.

This book made me rethink homelessness and Seligman deserves the Pen/Bellweather Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction awarded by Barbara Kingsolver (one of my favorite authors). I highly recommend the book as a thrilling mystery for those who like mysteries and a peek behind the lives of the many young people who live outside.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review an advanced reader’s copy of the book. It is slated to be published January 19, 2021.

Anther overhyped book where nothing happens. The set-up had everything it needed to tell a really meaningful story and then it just meandered all over the place except to the point.

A special thanks to Algonquin books and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange of my honest opinion.

This story drew me right in because even though I didn't witness a murder and had to watch my every move, but because author Katherine Seligman wrote about Maddy, a character who is homeless and the authors grasp of how being homeless really is. I was homeless in 2017 for a very short period, less than a week, but it was in the dead of winter and it brought back terrible memories. I think everyone should read this and look at homelessness in a different way, especially if you're not sympathetic toward the homeless. Maybe this book will change your mind. 5 stars because the author either experienced homelessness or did her homework, not to mention a great story!

Awww San Francisco! I am sure that most people think of the counterculture of the hippies in the 1960s and the colorful history of Haight-Asbury Streets! ~ The Haight or “The Upper Haight’!
San Francisco is no longer a city of ‘Love Ins’ but is similar to so many cities ~ with too many who are homeless, too many into drugs, too many murdered, and too many who are abused.

In reading the description of this novel we know it is about the young who are homeless.
Maddie Donaldo is twenty and lives in what most would describe as a dangerous area in Golden Gate Park. She is street smart and does her own thing~ she takes care of herself and ‘Root’ her dog.
However when she unwillingly witnesses the murder of a young homeless boy, the authorities want to talk to her about what she saw.

As a school counselor I worked with homeless students as well as students who lived with their family in a car. Fortunately my high school has community resource services that I was able to contact for support; which, of course, it not always the case.
I was drawn to this story as it won the 2019 Pen/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction.
I have read other novels about homeless youth. “Brave Girl, Quite Girl” was great.
In fact, this started out great. It did get a bit slow moving for me. I love mystery thrillers so my expectation was more on solving the mystery and, of course, wanted Maddie to get her sad life on the path of happiness!

Want to thank NetGalley and Algonquin for this early release granted to me in exchange for an honest professional review. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for January 19, 2021

I absolutely love San Fransico…it’s my favorite city in the United States. For that reason alone, I was immediately drawn to this book, but I was also curious about 19-year-old Maddy who is homeless and living in Golden Gate Park. When she accidently witnesses a murder, her life is upended as the police and the victim’s parents all want answers from her. Ultimately, I was completely let down by this story. I found it hard to finish (but as you’ll see below, this seems to be a theme for me lately), so I forced myself through this one. It read more like YA and I think it would be a better book for that genre. The story felt very chaotic and disjointed, and it ended very abruptly.

This was a fabulous read from page one! This book is like an onion, it has layers upon layers and when you think you have found them all a new one shows. I myself was homeless for almost a year when I was younger so this book really spoke to me. I think this would make one killer movie that I would die hard love to see. I loved the characters and how real it felt. It was edge of your seat plot until the very last page.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me a complimentary copy of "At the Edge of the Haight" by Katherine Seligman. I was looking forward to reading this to hopefully gain some insight into the life of young homeless people. I didn’t find the characters well-developed and while the story had potential, it fell kind of flat. The book might be of interest for Young Adults but not for me.

3.75 stars, rounded up

Twenty years old and living on the streets and in the parks of the Haight district of San Francisco, Maddy and her dog Root stumble across the dead body of a teenage boy, Shane and the man who is standing nearby with blood on his face. Suddenly, everyone wants a piece of her. The police want her help with the investigation, the boy's parents want to put together all of the pieces of what happened to their son. And all Maddy wants is to forget the sight of the teenage kid's face burned into her brain.

Maddy is reluctant to accept help from Shane's parents. There were times while reading this that I was asking myself why she wasn't more eager to accept their help when she had so very little to depend on. But the more I got to know Maddy's character, I understood that she doesn't WANT to rely on people. And I can respect that. You can only help those receptive to help.

After appearing in court to formally finger, Jeremiah, the man who killed Shane, she is compelled to learn more about him... and Shane as well. Using the resources she has available to her in public records, she tracks Jeremiah's criminal history and speaks to people in his past. She then begins her own quasi investigation into Shane's life by canvasing places he could have frequented and asking anyone she comes across if they recognize Shane's face. She ends up learning enough to wonder if Shane was even more of a mess than she is.

I didn't connect with Maddy as much as I would have hoped. I respected her in a way, but I never really connected with her character. And I didn't feel strong emotions for the story so much as the facts surrounding it. But, it was a very interesting read and definitely got my interest piqued.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Algonquin books for the ARC.

I started off on the fence with this book. I wasn't even sure I would finish it, but once I got into it, I couldn't put it down.
Maddy lives a simple life with her dog...its a fairly stable life given the fact that she is homeless. Maddy is used to being unseen. She's used to being lost, but she witnesses something terrible which thrusts her into a spot light of some sort. While the tragic event (a homeless boy around her age is killed in front of her) is a part of the story, the main focus of the story is about Maddy herself. How she wound up on the streets and what path she must choose going forward.

This is a book that is out of the norm for what I usually read, but I liked it!

At the Edge of the Haight is a new adult novel about homelessness and what leads the main character, Maddie, to it. While the author brings drama to Maddie's character with the discovery of a dying/dead teen, I didn't feel enough suspenseful tension to connect with the drama of the narrative. I also didn't connect with the characters, as they read as emotionally flat. What I did like was the flashback dynamic that led Maddie to homelessness - I think that the mother/daughter relationship would have made a better, more impactful solitary focus for the book. As it is written, this book didn't work for my tastes.

Advanced galley copy provided courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

At the Edge of the Haight tells the story of Maddy, a girl living homeless in San Francisco. She stumbles across a murder which brings her into the life of a family trying to help her our of the life she’s in.
This book isn’t what I expected, it did give a picture of life on the streets. However I didn’t feel connected or invested with the characters. The story seems to circle round a few times with Maddie going back and forth between her life on the streets and considering life with Shane’s family. It was an okay read but not as compelling as it could have been.

An extremely timely read about homelessness, as we navigate a pandemic and a crumbling economy. This was the first book of fiction or nonfiction, that I recall, that specifically focuses on the lives of homeless people, and I found it especially heartbreaking to think about the thousands of people living without properly shelter, food, and family. As a society, we often make judgments about what “those people did…” but this book is a gentle reminder that there are stories and lives behind the faces we see on the side of the road, living in parks, visiting local libraries for shelter, and we should take the opportunity to ask questions instead of passing judgment. This was a moving story, and while I did find myself hoping the author would dive deeper into the lives of some of the characters, in the end this book achieved its goal.

Title: At the Edge of the Haight
Author: Katherine Seligman
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 4 out of 5

Maddy Donaldo, homeless at twenty, has made a family of sorts in the dangerous spaces of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. She knows whom to trust, where to eat, when to move locations, and how to take care of her dog. It’s the only home she has. When she unwittingly witnesses the murder of a young homeless boy and is seen by the perpetrator, her relatively stable life is upended. Suddenly, everyone from the police to the dead boys’ parents want to talk to Maddy about what she saw. As adults pressure her to give up her secrets and reunite with her own family before she meets a similar fate, Maddy must decide whether she wants to stay lost or be found. Against the backdrop of a radically changing San Francisco, a city which embraces a booming tech economy while struggling to maintain its culture of tolerance, At the Edge of the Haight follows the lives of those who depend on makeshift homes and communities.

Things I wish I’d known before reading this (as I might have chosen to not read it): the murder victim is not a “young” homeless boy, but a guy around Maddy’s age; and the main plot of this story is Maddy herself, not her struggle to stay safe from the perpetrator (because that’s an aside at best). This is also a new adult book, not a young adult book, as I’ve seen it called in some reviews.

Maddy herself is a fascinating character and the reader is very much involved in her life. However, this is a very slow read without a lot of character growth. Some of Maddy’s friends are homeless by choice—they have families and places to go but choose not to—some are not, and their family unit struggles together. This isn’t a fun or uplifting read, so if that’s what you’re expecting, it’s probably best to give this a pass.

Katherine Seligman is a journalist and author. At the Edge of the Haight is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Algonquin Books in exchange for an honest review.)

(Blog link live 1/19.)

At the Edge of Haight by Katherine Seligman was a evocative and vivid experience of the situations that homeless people go through in San Francisco. It's very much a dog eat dog world and having people you can trust and rely on can be crucial to surviving.

The main character in the novel is Maddy Donaldo who lives on the streets with her friend Ash, Fleet,Hope, and dog Root. One tragic day she witnesses the murder of a young teenager called Shane in the a park. To make matters even more complicated, the parents of Shane, Dave and Marva bombard Maddy for answers as to why someone would have hurt Shane. Maddy unwillingly begins to get to know Dave and Marva but this unlocks past memories she would rather forget and stay away from.


I found At the Edge of the Haight highly enjoyable and raced through it within a few days. The depiction of the homeless characters felt very real and at times felt like I was watching a very interesting documentary on the tele. What I found most outstanding was that it really opened my mind as to why people become homeless and also why they decide not to ask for any help in solving this issue. We find out that Maddy's mum has alcohol and mental health issues. On the other hand, characters such as Ash could actually have a cushy life but decide not to because they want their own freedom and don't wish to meet the expectations of others. It really made me think deeply about the misconceptions surrounding homelessness.

In terms of the characters, they were all very well fleshed out and interesting. In particular I really liked the wisecracking Ash who was very much a carefree individual. The bond Maddy had with him and her friends was great and very compelling. Without her friends Maddy would definitely be in a more worse position as they protect each other and are essentially family for one another. An example of this is when Maddy and her friends buy pizza having not eaten anything all day, only to have it taken away my a gang. So yeah it's pretty grim.

One thing that I guess niggled at me was the fact that the characters don't want to pull themselves out of their holmlessess? I mean I should've felt sad at their situation but whenever someone or an organisation tried to help them people like Ash, Hope, Fleet and Maddy would just let it slide. Thankfully Maddy begins to take the steps to push herself out of her holmlessess which gave me a sense of "yes things are gonna get much better for her. Maddy came across as someone who is really intelligent and on the ball so I do feel she should've pushed herself to succeed in the world. But who am I to question the decisions real people make in life 🤷🏽‍♂️

I also kinda found David very irritating. Like don't get me wrong, I understand he wants to find out why Shane was killed. But this guy was obsessed with Maddy to the point it became kinda creepy to me. But that's just me I guess. It just gave me the feeling that David and Marv just wanted to replace Shane in order to feel better. I feel bad even saying that but it's how I felt they came across 🤦🏽‍♂️

Overall, At the Edge of Haight is a very well written story. Katherine Seligman depicts the subject matter of being a homeless person really well and instantly grabbed my interest. I've never read anything like it which was very refreshing for me as I'd been reading much of the same i.e. fantasy novels.

Katherine Seligman's New Adult novel At the Edge of the Haight will shake up what you believed about young adults living on the street. By creating very real characters and following their daily lives, the author creates empathy and compassion.

Maddy lives with a makeshift family on the streets and parks of San Francisco. With an absent father and a mentally ill mother, she left her foster parents home when she turned eighteen.

Maddy has adopted a stray dog, her companion and protector. One day he leads her to the body of another street person, a young man. Nearby she notices a man, and assumes he murdered the boy.

Maddy does what she can to help find the truth of the boy's death. His parents hope Maddy can help them understand their son and his life, and hope to help Maddy. But they are too isolated in their privileged life to understand Maddy's needs. She remains closed down, unable to trust.

This is a character-driven read; the story has complications but the emotional tension of the crisis Maddy faces is internal, discovering a voice through photography, and reacting to an event that motivates her to risk change.

There is threat and violence and sex, but appropriate for young adult readers.

The novel has the feel of a journalistic representation of the hard, lonely, alienated life on the street, the endless rounds of finding shelter and your next meal.

I received a free ebook from the publisher. My review is fair and unbiased.

Sensitively written and absorbing. heartbreaking really. This one will stay with me a long time. I see why this will win awards...Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher!