Growing Up Too Fast in Lullabies for Little Criminals

After reading the first third of Lullabies for Little Criminals by Heather O’Neill, I was shocked by how unsettling the story felt. The novel follows a 12-year-old girl named Baby, who is raised in Montreal by her father, Jules, a drug addict. Her childhood is completely different from mine growing up in Canada, which made me realize how much circumstances shape a child’s life. What struck me most was O’Neill’s choice to tell Baby’s tragic story in a playful, childish voice, which makes the sadness even more haunting.

Photo By Gene Korolov.

One moment that shocked me was when Baby describes how her father and his friends call heroin chocolate milk. I was disturbed when Baby admitted, “Jules and his friends had been calling heroin chocolate milk for years" (O’Neill 10). The way O’Neill writes Baby’s internal monologue with such certainty makes the scene feel even more jarring. O’Neill filters it through Baby’s innocence. This narrative choice makes the story even more heartbreaking, since we see how Baby is desensitized to her father's drug use firsthand. 

When I was 12, I didn’t even know what heroin was, and I probably would have thought they meant real chocolate milk. Reading this scene made me realize just how malleable children are. As children, we are shaped by our surroundings, and if we are surrounded by painful things, it becomes normalized. 

Another moment that struck me was when Baby overhears Isabella, the woman she is temporarily placed with, describe how Baby showed up in her father’s clothes (O’Neill 45). The image of a 12-year-old girl wearing oversized adult clothing struck me as sad and symbolic. Isabella’s description of Baby’s state when she arrived at the home creates vivid imagery and symbolizes Baby's neglect. Instead of being cared for like a child, she is forced to carry her father’s burdens. 

As the youngest of 4 in a single-income household, I always had clothes of my own. My parents believe kids should be kids. 

Another detail that stood out to me was Baby’s description of her neighborhood in Montreal as the “red-light district,” saying it was not “an ideal place to raise a kid” (O’Neill 5). This line disturbed me because a child shouldn’t worry if their neighborhood is appropriate for raising kids. O'Neill's choice to have Baby describe her surroundings so matter-of-factly makes the unsafe setting more unsettling, since it highlights how normalized instability is in her life. 

Photo By Kimjuyoung656.

When I was young, it never crossed my mind whether my neighborhood was ideal for kids. Reading Baby’s perspective made me realize how deeply our environments shape our childhood and sense of safety. 

After reading the first third of the novel, I felt both heartbroken and grateful. O’Neill’s writing made me see how Baby’s clothes, neighborhood, and voice all reflect the weight of neglect. It also made me realize how fortunate I was to grow up without those burdens. Baby’s story has resonated with me, reminding me how fragile childhood is and how much it depends on the circumstances we can’t control.

Works Cited

Kimjuyoung656. “The Empty Playground.” Flickr, 28 July 2024, https://flic.kr/p/ouArQ9. 

Korolov, Gene. Photo of a doll on a bench. Flickr, 5 April 2018, https://flic.kr/p/25N1L6q. 

O’Neill, Heather. Lullabies for Little Criminals. Harper Perennial, 2006.