A Life Without Consequences

Paul is a ward of the court continually moved through the Chicago juvenile system. Paul tries to succeed in schools where children aren't taught to read. He tries to get straight in homes where drug abuse and violence are the norm and find affection in families where the children are constantly being moved and the guardians are paid six dollars an hour to look after kids they have no stake in or relation to. About the author: Stephen Elliott grew up a ward of the court in various institutions and group homes in Chicago. He earned his Bachelors degree at the University of Illinois and a Masters degree from Northwestern University. He has worked as a stripper, a cabdriver, a bartender, and a law school admissions consultant. "A Life Without Consequences is about Paul, a ward of the court stuck in various juvenile institutions. He meets Tanya when they are fourteen and locked up in Chicago's Henry Horner Adolescent Psychiatric Unit, a psychiatric facility primarily for runaways and the very poor. Because it costs the state the same whether the children are in locked facilities or specialized foster homes, there is very little impetus for the state to move the children once they are inside.". "Paul and Tanya are separated for four years, Tanya to a prison downstate, Paul to group homes in the city. Paul rebels against the system and against his own adolescence. A self determined kid with a record, Paul tries to succeed in schools where children aren't taught to read. He tries to get straight in homes where drug abuse and violence are the norm. He tries to find affection in families where the children are constantly being moved and the guardians are paid six dollars an hour to look after kids they have no stake in or relation to. This is a book about commitment. This is a book about adolescence and growing up set against the backdrop of a juvenile system pre-programmed to fail. This is a book about children that have been forgotten and have nowhere else to go.". "A Life Without Consequences is a semi-autobiographical novel from emerging author Stephen Elliott, a former ward of the court and current Stegner Fellow at Stanford University."--BOOK JACKET. Paul is a ward of the court continually moved through the Chicago juvenile system. He tries to succeed in schools where children aren't taught to read, and tries to get straight in homes where drug abuse and violence are the norm and find affection in families where the children are constantly being moved and the guardians are paid six dollars an hour to look after kids they have no stake in or relation to Fourteen-year-old Paul, having run away from his abusive father and lived on the roof of a convenience store for a year, is picked up by police after slitting his wrists and begins a round of struggles in Chicago's system of youth homes before making the decision to break the cycle and try for a better life