Over the Peanut Fence: Scaling Barriers for Homeless and Runaway Youths

"A blend of memoir and sociocultural commentary analyzes the problem of teenage homelessness. Eichinger had known Zach when he was just a child, the victim of his parents' chronic negligence and abuse.  One day, her partner, Cory, spotted him on the street, wandering about shiftlessly and clearly ill. They invited him home and discovered that he had been living on the streets for four years, scrounging for money, food, and shelter and struggling with drug abuse. The author divides her book into several distinct parts: a remembrance of her experience with Zach; a reflection on the root causes of homelessness in the United States; a synopsis of the latest research regarding the functioning of a youth's brain; an homage to organizations that make a positive difference; and two short stories that dramatize ways in which adolescents can be effectively assisted. The author's account is lucidly written, both intellectually thorough and emotionally affecting. In addition, this isn't a work of ax-grinding political partisanship--Eichinger prefers cool-headed analysis to grandstanding. Further, at the heart of her 'part memoir and part storybook' is a profound reflection on the ailing condition of American society, withering from the widespread disintegration of the family and the grim plague of 'lovelessness.' An astute and moving assessment of an urgent societal problem."--Kirkus Reviews 

Marilynne Eichinger has woven her personal narrative and research together with her experience as a science center director to make recommendations for those of us who wonder about the people we see with all of their belongings closely held in parks and other public spaces. I share her confidence in the importance of kinesthetic (hands-on) learning as an alternative for those for whom reading is a challenge." -- Phyllis Katz, Ph.D. Science Education, Associate University of Maryland, Founder of the National Science Foundation award-winning Hands-on Science Program 

[Eichinger] "provides a powerful glimpse into the trauma and abuse that forces young people to run to the streets. Homeless youth are often invisible in their struggle to complete school while caring for themselves. Under overwhelming pressure, they must surmount many obstacles on their path to adulthood. The lucky ones connect with caring adults--a librarian, a counselor, or a teacher. Their stories are a call for action to libraries, government, youth agencies, universities, parents, and volunteers to work together to solve this national problem." -- Pam Sandlian Smith, President 2017-18, Public Library Association, Director, Anythink Library 

"The machines of war roar past a family's muddy tent as the mother searches the garbage for something edible. A youngster here in the U.S. scans a dumpster with the same goal, wondering Why me? And we dare to turn away. Our country has left a trail of suffering in our well intentioned pursuit of 'democracy' in foreign lands; our nation pretends not to see the homelessness on our doorstep, save to complain about it. This stunning book requires you to ask what you can do to help turn trauma into something better." -- Jack Segal, Consul General of the U.S. (ret.), Chief Political Adviser to NATO's Commander in Afghanistan. Segal has worked to aid innocent victims in war zones from Gaza to Afghanistan. 

Over the Peanut Fence was an act of love inspired by a young man who came into my life and turned it upside down.  Watching him transform from a dejected youth without a future to an energetic, excited adult was like observing a butterfly emerge from a cocoon. The process was filled with difficulties that had to be overcome one by one. There were times when my partner and I almost gave up, but we came to love the spunk and courage it took to overcome a traumatic childhood.  I learned a great deal interviewing people who worked with runaway and homeless youth and by contacts with neuroscientists who study the adolescent brain. I read broadly, interviewed youth raised in poverty and looked for answers as to why some people are able to overcome traumatic childhoods while others can not. What I deduced from my work is that love during early childhood is a key to success later in life.