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What Members Thought
Told in first person, the main character is spending time in a juvenile center in upstate New York for stealing some prescription pads from a doctor's office. The language contains a few f- words, and few other swear words, but it is not terrible. A character gets beat up, but it happens off-screen, so to speak. If you want a glimpse into a teen's mind who has a tough home life, has made some bad decisions, but is really just a normal kid in hard circumstances, then this is the book for you. It
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This would be a 3.5 from me if halves were allowed. As far as I could tell, the book does a good job of explaining some of the despair and the difficulty that adolescents experience when involved in the juvenile system. At times I struggled to determine how much was stereotypical and how much was truly realistic, but Myers is certainly worth respect for his craft and insight. The characters of Reese, Icy, and Hooft were well-drawn. Myers does a good job of illustrating why Reese still made bad c
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This is one of Myers' best novels. He realistically presents the existence of Reese who was sentenced to two and half years in a juvenile detention center at age 13. The difficulty of avoiding fights, the casual cruelty of a guard, the lonely, silent passing of time cause despair yet the reader can hope that Reese will thrive after he is released. This is an upsetting book which I had to read little by little.
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A pretty depressing look at the juvenile justice system. But made me think more about it again.
For grades 7 and up. Real world inside a juvenile prison facility.
Heavy read, topic-wise... I found it intriguing after working with the
juvie kids for so many years.
Good feel for growing up black & lost in NYC.
juvie kids for so many years.
Good feel for growing up black & lost in NYC.
Powerful and well told, ending comes a little to fast to. Myers raw realism is stunning.
Oct 23, 2010
Marianne
marked it as to-read
Nov 05, 2010
Jennifer
marked it as to-read
Jan 10, 2011
Alyson (Kid Lit Frenzy)
marked it as to-read
Mar 28, 2011
Whitney
marked it as to-read
Jul 03, 2011
June Morgan
marked it as to-read
Jul 30, 2011
Karyn The Pirate
marked it as to-read
Mar 03, 2012
Claire
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review of another edition
Shelves:
high-school-and-beyond,
award-winner
Apr 25, 2014
Karen
marked it as to-read
Dec 09, 2015
Christina
marked it as to-read
