No Choirboy: Murder, Violence and Teenagers on Death Row
03 Jul 2009 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: death row, prison, Too Good to be True Nonfiction
No Choirboy: Murder, Violence and Teenagers on Death Row by Susan Kuklin
Published by Henry Holt, New York NY, 2008
224 pages
Recommended age: 14 and up
VOYA rating: 4P. 3Q
This nonfiction book deals with people on death row or in prison for crimes various violent crimes they committed as teens. The author tells the stories of several people who were affected by violent crimes. Her interviews include adults and young adults who were all found guilty for crimes committed while they were still in their teens but who may be in their mid twenties. The author uses the same language used by the inmates to accurately depict their stories as being told through their own words and through their perspectives. Some of the interviews were conducted through letters so the author just reprints the letters to show how they tell their own story.
For certain portions of the book she also interviews the family members of some of these inmates including the family members of one inmate who has already been executed. It is heartbreaking and at time a little hard to read the sad stories about the inmate’s lives and the life of those loved one’s left behind. You hear several different stories and in some cases, the rulings have been reversed and the death sentence has been changed. In other cases, the rulings have not been reversed and the inmates are still left on death row.
The author even interviews a few family members of victims who were killed by teens which added an interesting layer to the story. It really lets the reader into the daily life of a prison inmate and the scary reality of being on death row. It also would expose teens to legal terminology and might spark further interest in the legal system.
The main theme that seems to be running through the entire book is whether or not teens should be sentenced to death and tried harshly or as adults when they are committing crimes at such a developmentally young age. Although you get the sense that the author is trying to just present the stories and then let the reader judge for themselves she clearly has only interviewed people who feel strongly against the death penalty, mainly because they are the ones on death row. It is slightly biased, but it does bring up a very important political debate that affects some teens directly. Although the teens reading the books might not feel strongly one way or the other about their death penalty, by presenting this issue with real life people who are living this daily and who started AS teens in prison, it hits a bit closer to home. At times it was a little hard to read the language used because it wasn’t written beautifully and eloquently, but that was the point. The stories were accurately retold and in doing so, the author did not just sensationalize and use pretty words that would be more poetic or emotionally appealing. The rawness of the stories and interviews presented make this a very effective nonfiction book for teens.
The cover is striking in black and white because it actually shows one of the real prisoners discussed in the book. It shows their tattoo. I think a teen might pick up this book by the cover but I would have liked the story of the tattoo to tie-in somewhere through the course of the book. Did the tattoo have any special significance? Why was this particular shot chosen for the cover? I felt the use of various photos throughout the book were also very effective for the reader in tying a tangible face to the prisoners and victims discussed. In fiction, it is great to have the words to describe the setting or the character. In nonfiction however we were dealing with the descriptions on their life and crimes so having the black and white photos to fill in the lack of character description were helpful. It made things more relatable for both the victims and the prisoners.
I feel like this delves into some serious subject matter and would be better for older teens, ages 14 and up. I could see some schools or detnetion centers who would prefer we not booktalk this or add it to the collection. Ultimately in the case of a detention center especially, although the teens might really ENJOY and relate to this book it might be something that the administration would prefer you not explose them to.
Three Little Words
25 Jun 2009 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: adoption, foster, Too Good to be True Nonfiction
Three Little Words: A Memoir by Ashley Rhodes-Courter
Published by Athenium, New York, NY 2008
336 pgs.
Recommended age: 14 and up
VOYA rating: 4P, 4Q
This is the story of Ashley Rhodes-Courter and her decade long life living in and out of foster care. As a small child, among alcohol and neglect, Ashley is given up to the custody of the state by her mother. She is told by her mother that they will be together again soon and that this is just a temporary fix. Naive and young, Ashley believes her mother and promises never to love anyone else as much as her and to never to call anyone else ”Mom”. Thus begins Ashley’s long and heartbreaking travel through numerous foster homes and group home facilities.
Ashley spends her childhood and adolescence hoping and praying to have visits with her mother who periodically tends to show up for scheduled visits every now and again. All along Ashley thinks that one day, she will be sent home with her brother to live with her mother once again. It is clear early on that Ashley’s mother was never a good mother and will never truly rehabilitate herself enough to take back her children. It is heartbreaking how selfishly she strings along poor Ashley and preys on her love for her mother.
One particular home is especially hard to handle as the family who has taken on several coster children abuses and neglects the children terribly. Ashley must learn to adapt to each new situation but the situation with this family is the worst one she encounters and includes regular beetings, group baths in dirty waters, lack of privacy and the use of hot sauce and squat thrusts for punishment. Somehoe Ashley survives, is sent to a group orphanage with other chidlren her age who have gone through similarly tramatic childhoods. Ashley eventually is spotted by a family while staying in the orphanage and is sent to their home for a temporary trial to see if they will be a good fit. Ultimately, after a long couple of years, Ashley is officially adopted by her new family and finds her “happy ending”. It shows the foster system in Florida and also talks a alot about the legal system when going through the adoption system.
I found this to be an interesting read but I feel like teens might get a bit bored by all of the legal speak. I find it amazing that she writes such a detailed memoir about all the colorful things that have happened to her. I think a teen would be sucked into her story. I found the legal speak interesting, since I didn’t know anything about gardian at lietems, it just might be a bit much for someone who is maybe 12 years old. I also found it to be a humbly written book that is at times self-depricating to the author. The author writes frankly about her pain and abuse she suffers and about her feelings of abandonment. She was never a martyr or a perfect child. She acted out and rebelled and did horrible things to the wonderful family whom finally give her a loving “forever” home. She talks about other real things that all teens worry about like boys, friends and fitting in. She also calls herself out when she is behaving like a brat or being unreasonable and spoiled. It is also inspiring to see what she was able to do at such a young age and she really became an advocate for her gardient at lietem and successful foster care. Teens who had similar foster care experiences or maybe just a broken home life might be able to relate to her situatuation easily.
I really felt the cover was a nice choice. It is an old photograph of a very young Ashley dressed in a homemade angel costume for Halloween. It is funny because she does some very non-angelic things throughout her childhood while at the same time, is also just a scared little kid. It was a nice photo for the cover since it was a memoir about the author’s life.
I REALLY liked the cover. It was simple, clean yet descriptive. It was very eye catching, especially with the red slash marks across the title. I can see how some might argue that this would just give teens “bad ideas” about dealing with their own stress but the book offer much more than that. The book shows Callie’s journey and growth as she admits that this is something she wants to recover from.
