When Property Of was first published in 1977, Kirkus Reviews described it as "that precious commodity, the first novel of great promise." In telling the story of a young outsider who is obsessed with her gang-leader lover but unwilling to commit to becoming one of "the Property of the Orphans"--the tough girls who belong to the boys on the avenue--Alice Hoffman explores hard truths about how difficult it is to love another, and yet how much more difficult it is to pull away.