Check out my review at:
http://www.shannonsbookbag.blogspot.com/2013/05/a-gift-of-hope-steel.html ( )

Review: A Gift of Hope by Danielle Steel.

This is an inspiring book to read written by a great author. I’ll admit I don’t read too many of her books but I know she has a lot of followers that reads them all. She is an inspiration to us all knowing how much she has done for the homeless in San Francisco, California, for eleven years, and how much more she wanted to do. Danielle Steel states that one day she had a spiritual awakening in church that came to her as a feeling, to help the homeless. After her son died from suicide she wanted to help others in a way that she thought her son would have wanted. She voiced her idea to a few people and they volunteered to join in her act of support and kindness.

Danielle Steel writes a few stories of people that she encountered on the streets among the homeless, some pregnant, one women dying of cancer, a business man who lost everything, a veteran with PTSD, and many other tragedies. The images I vision through her words of the unfortunate lives in the nights that she and her team came upon with provisions was staggering and she claims there where many more homeless she never got too. She was determined to supply the basic necessities to keep the less fortunate alive. Danielle Steel provided jackets, hats, gloves, warm clothing, sleeping bags, hygiene products, tarps, umbrellas, and food which she bought and donated to the homeless. She offered more than material comfort, she also treated them with respect and voiced her concern for more effective action to aid the deprived population.

I’m glad to have come across this book at a time when life situations hit home. It helps me understand that the means of supporting, aiding, and helping others is so much greater, happier, and healthier for others but also for myself….


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I enjoyed reading about Danielle and her YO! Angels! group giving to the homeless for over 11 years.
I knew that Nick's death was hard on her and the rest of her family but this showed a little something good that came out of it and we know that there was more good that came out. Nick continues to touch lives. ( )

I don't read Danielle Steel's usual genre, but in this book she recounts her 11 years of working with the homeless population in San Francisco. She and a team of helpers handed out hundreds of sleeping bags, coats, hats, gloves, boots, and gloves, several nights a month during cold weather. She gives little detail about the people they found living on the streets, but does tell about some of the difficulties encountered. ( )

Review first published on my blog: http://memoriesfrombooks.blogspot.com/2012/12/a-gift-of-hope.html

A Gift of Hope sounds like it would be the title of a Danielle Steel novel. Her books are often about characters in difficult situations finding hope and finding a future. This book, however, is not a novel. It is about real people in extremely difficult situations who don't always find a way to the future. This book is nonfiction, and it is about the homeless.

A Gift of Hope is about the "Yo! Angel" homeless outreach team that Danielle Steel started, funded, and worked with for eleven years. The project grew out of a need to cope with her son's suicide. It started with Danielle Steel going out into the San Francisco streets at night bringing care packages - jackets, hats, gloves - to the homeless. It grew somewhat more organized, but not much bigger because to protect her privacy, the project operated through her private funding and independently of any outside support. It ended for the same reason - it became unfeasible to fund. Perhaps, that is the reason for this book?

I find this book difficult to assess. It draws attention to a critical area for our society - how to most effectively help the homeless - from prevention to support. As such, it is an important book. As a book, however, it got repetitive, and the tone was a little removed. She does say repeatedly throughout the book that Yo! Angel gave to the homeless without asking for anything in return. Without asking even for their story. However, this book needed stories to develop that personal connection.

I do hope that the book draws greater attention to the plight of the homeless and that more help can be given. ( )