Until They Bring the Streetcars Back is a young adult novel first published in 1997 by author Stanley Gordon West. The novel follows Cal Gant, a high school senior who becomes close with his classmate, Gretchen Lutterman. Gretchen lives in an abusive household, and Cal becomes intertwined in her life and her pursuit of freedom from her father’s control. Like the teen characters in the book, West grew up in St. Paul, Minnesota, and went to Central High School, basing some characters and events on reality. The story features themes such as The Importance of Resilience, Showing Compassion for Others, and Confronting Mature Issues in Adolescence.

The page numbers refer to the 1997 Lexington Marshall edition.

Content Warning: The book and guide contain discussion of parent-child sexual abuse, infanticide, animal abuse, bullying, suicide ideation, adoption, divorce, ableism, and flippant references to mental health.

Plot Summary

Cal Gant is a senior at Central High School in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1949. Steve Holland is introduced as one of Cal’s best friends. Some of Steve’s struggles are explained, including the death of his little brother and his challenges with polio, which affects his right leg. Cal and Steve are in study hall at the start of the novel. Another one of Cal’s best friends, Jerry Douglas, gives everyone in study hall marbles, and the students drop them as a prank to startle the teacher. The teacher gives them detention as a result.

Gretchen Lutterman, also in study hall, is introduced. She tells the teacher she didn’t drop a marble and that she can’t stay after school because her dad is waiting for her. The teacher is unsympathetic, and so is Cal. Gretchen tells him her dad, Otto, will hurt her if she stays for detention, but Cal doesn’t believe Gretchen. He says so out loud, remarking that he knows this to be false, earning him detention all next week.

Cal and his family are then introduced. They live in an apartment and pay less rent because they look after the building. Lurine, Cal’s mom, survived the Great Depression, and she doesn’t like to waste anything. Though Cal’s family is not rich, money isn’t an overt issue, despite his mother’s behavior, which is a point of contention in the family. Cal has an active social life––going to dances, playing football and basketball, and developing his love for the blonde, blue-eyed Lola. Cal also has a job delivering groceries and alcohol to residents.

For 29 years, Cal’s dad, Horace, has driven streetcars for the Twin Cities Rapid Transit Company. For the last 10 years, he’s been the “motorman” (driver) for the Grand-Mississippi line. Horace complains about the demise of streetcars and the arrival of buses. He blames crooked corporations and spoiled citizens for the buses, and this is a passionate topic he often brings up with the family. While he is generally complaining in the novel and also believes in not meddling in others’ affairs, Horace lets Peggy, Cal’s 12-year-old sister, bring food to a rabbit that Cal rescued, and he eventually calls the Humane Society to help an abused dog.

Cal wants to avoid Gretchen at school, but she finds him and confronts him. Gretchen tells Cal about her home life. She says her dad harms her and forbids her to speak to boys. Otto won’t let Gretchen wear makeup or nice clothes, which explains her appearance. Cal and his friends regularly refer to Gretchen as “Gretch the Wretch” because of how she looks. Gretchen, hoping to connect with Cal, continues. She tells him she has a sister, Helga, and Otto “made” Helga have a baby, Little Jacob, before forcing her to drown it in a bathtub. Little Jacob’s body is in the freezer in the back of their house.

Helga explains that she tried to expose Otto in the past, but the authorities didn’t believe her. Helga and Gretchen’s mom, Ruth, lied and vouched for her husband. Otto sent Helga to a psychiatric hospital. Now, he “instructs” Gretchen, a euphemism for sexual abuse. She doesn’t know how to stop the abuse. Hearing all of this, Cal wants to help, but Gretchen doesn’t want him to tell anyone. If Otto finds out Gretchen told, she believes he’ll kill her or send her away, like her sister.

Cal thinks of a plan and tries to make Gretchen feel better. He buys her nice loafers and brings her Nut Goodie candy bars. Thanks to a friend, Cal and Gretchen skip school and spend a day in downtown Minneapolis. Gretchen wants Cal to witness the abuse, so one night, Cal waits in the oak tree outside her window. Eventually, Gretchen manages to open the “heavy curtains.” Cal sees Gretchen’s naked back and a man holding something. Suddenly, the curtains shut, implying that he is sexually abusing her.

Determined to help her, Cal tries to steal Little Jacob’s corpse from the freezer behind Gretchen’s house to bring it to the police. He successfully finds the corpse, but Otto chases him and Cal drops the body. Cal’s other plan is to steal liquor from the store and frame Otto, but while attempting this, the store owner catches Cal, and Cal must spend 30 days in a workhouse.

Horace then dies of a heart attack, and Cal gets to leave the workhouse to attend his dad’s funeral. Before Cal returns to the workhouse, he executes a new plan. A friend teaches him to hotwire cars, and Cal hotwires Otto’s car, fills it with the stolen liquor, smashes up the liquor store, and then drives the car into a drugstore. The cops visit Otto’s house following this event. Presuming Gretchen told, Otto gets upset and stabs a cop.

Cal is released from the workhouse, but he can’t graduate or return to school due to his stint in jail. Cal tells Gretchen how he framed Otto, but he doesn’t want Gretchen to tell anyone because Cal doesn’t want to go back to jail. The county attorney, Mr. Brown, promises no further charges if Cal testifies against Otto.

Cal testifies, and Otto’s lawyer badgers Cal in court, framing Cal and Gretchen as lovers who want Otto out of the way. Otto’s lawyer pushes a calculated story to help Otto’s case, claiming Little Jacob was Cal and Gretchen’s baby. The harsh examination triggers Ruth, also in the courtroom, and she screams the truth, causing Otto to attack Cal. After the judge restores order, the jury convicts Otto of first-degree murder, and the judge sentences him to life in jail.

At the end of the novel, Cal takes Gretchen to prom, and he can’t believe how beautiful she looks in her pink gown; Steve wants to ask her out. Though Cal still can’t graduate, he goes to graduation and cheers extra loud when Gretchen receives her diploma.