Let me start by saying this: a title like "A Priest Among Street Kids" or "A Priest Among the Delinquent" would better capture, in our cultural terms, what Father Guy Gilbert's life is truly about. Because the boys for whom this priest gives everything are not forgotten in the sense of worthless or hopeless. They are young people living in the bleakest quarters of Paris, in conditions that are grim and desperate.
The book opens with Father Guy's first encounters with street kids and closes with letters from his "street" friends who ended up in prison.
Guy Gilbert sketches scenes from his own life—especially the lives of these boys, lives lived in bars, police stations, prisons, and violence. He shows how friendship grew between him and these kids. What stands out is his gift for giving his time and love with real persistence. These boys, whom society brands as delinquent and then throws away, finally give him their trust. From that moment on, even inside the barriers that trap them, a light of hope breaks through.
- review by Martino (18 years old), 1987