In Heather O’Neill’s novel Lullabies for Little Criminals, Baby’s transition from childhood to the adult world is not a sudden epiphany, but a grueling erosion of her youth. Thrown into the gritty streets of Montreal with her heroin-addicted father, Jules, Baby navigates a perilous coming-of-age journey where she attempts to preserve her innocence as a defense mechanism, only to lose it completely through trauma and exploitation.