Bestselling author of Scythe and Challenger Deep Neal Shusterman, here with coauthors Debra Young and Michelle Knowlden, tells an intense yet tender story of two teens, trapped in impossible circumstances and unjust systems, willing to risk everything for love—no matter the consequences.
Adriana knows that if she can manage to keep her head down for the next seven months, she might be able to get through her sentence in the Compass juvenile detention center. Thankfully, she’s allowed to keep her journal, where she writes down her most private thoughts when her feelings get too big.
Until the day she opens her journal and discovers that her thoughts are no longer so private. Someone has read her writings—and has written back. A boy who lives on the other side of the gender-divided detention center. A boy who sparks a fire in her to write back.
Jon’s story is different than Adriana’s; he’s already been at Compass for years and will be in the system for years to come. Still, when he reads the words Adriana writes to him, it makes him feel like the walls that hold them in have melted away.
This fast-paced, highly compelling tour de force novel exposes what life is like in detention—and reveals the hearts of two teens who are forced to live in desperate circumstances. ---from the publisher
432 pages 978-0062875761 Ages 13-17
Keywords: juvenile detention center, journal, dealing with feelings, teens, romance, social issues, 13 year old, 14 year old, 15 year old
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Well, one thing's for sure - you don't want to end up in juvenile detention. Adriana and Jon are there. They live on different sides of the facility -mnever seeing each other - but the day Jon discovers Adriana's journal is the day they connect - and that connection is filled with hope and eventually love.
When you imagine juvenile detention, you imagine kids who are hurting and kids who made mistakes. You imagine people paid to work there who will want these kids to grow and get hope while they are there under their "care." Um, "care" is no where near the intention of some of the folks who get paid to do their jobs at this facility.
The boys and the girls have their own hierarchies and their own bullies. It doesn't help that the adults who should be trustworthy are keep in their own narcissistic world and using their power for their own purposes. Makes you angry. Makes you hurt for these already wounded kids.
Connection matters between human beings. For Adriana and Jon the journal is an amazing, hopeful connection. That alone can keep them going. But they still need to figure out who to trust and where the betrayal will be coming from next.
A very gritty, real, story of two damaged kids who deserve a whole lot better than this.
Recommended by: Barb Langridge, abookandahug.com
