Posts Tagged 'prison'

Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam

Published November 5, 2021 Uncategorized Leave a Comment
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Genre: Realistic Fiction/ 386 p.

Based loosely on Yusef Salaam’s real life, Amal and his friends, who are all black, get into a fight with a group of all white teens. Amal and his friends all go to jail, with Amal’s being the worst sentence, while the white teens are not charged with anything. Amal maintains that he just threw a single punch and is not responsible for the damage they say he inflicted, but no one is listening. His family is struggling with his conviction as they always feared something like this would happen to him based on where they live and how he looks. They are trying to be supportive, but his situation seems almost hopeless. Amal is a talented artist and poet, however, and that seems to get him through the tough days of prison. He struggles to convey his emotions because he is angry, but showing anger seems to make him a target for further ridicule and abuse around him. Is there any hope to finding out the truth of what happened that fateful night? Does he have any chance of a future now that this has happened to him?

Written in verse, this powerful story is the product of a passionate author and a man who’s real life situation inspired this story. Many readers will identify with Amal because he feels trapped not only in the prison system, but in his situation in life. He fears that no matter what he did with his life he was destined to end up right here. He has dreams and goals, but is almost afraid to think about them because they seem so unrealistic for someone like him. This story will get people talking, in a good way. Recommended especially for reluctant readers.

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

Published February 12, 2015 Historical Fiction , RAC Leave a Comment
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code-name-verity

Genre:  Historical Fiction

# of Pages:  343

RAC:  Yes

Verity is a young female British spy who is captured in France while on a mission simply for looking the wrong way when crossing the street.  The first half of the novel is Verity’s written confession about her incarceration, interrogation, and even torture by the Gestapo for information on the British.  Some of the things she says seem tedious or unimportant, but in the second half you hear from her best friend, Maddie, who is a female pilot working for Britain.  She was the pilot who flew Verity in on her mission, but her plane was hit and Verity had been forced to jump out with a parachute leaving both of them unaware of the other’s fate.  Maddie ended up crashing, but then found herself stranded in a land where if she were caught she would definitely be put in jail as well.  As Maddie’s story is told some of the facts Verity mentioned suddenly make sense.  All of this leads up to the shocking ending when the reader learns what happens to these two dedicated friends.

This title has received amazing reviews and for good reason.  The story is captivating, intriguing, mysterious, and unique.  Verity and Maddie’s friendship ends up reflecting just how important these relationships were during wartime.  The very beginning starts a little slow as the setting it set, but eventually this leads up to an exciting premise as these two unique voices tell their tales of female involvement in WWII.  Highly recommended.

Maximum Security by Robert Muchamore

Published October 25, 2011 Adventure , Mystery , RAC , Realistic Fiction Leave a Comment
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Genre:  Mystery/Spy

# of Pages:  302

RAC Book:  Yes

In this third installment of the CHERUB series, James is sent undercover into a prison to befriend a young murderer who has a famous weapons dealer for a mother.  The idea is that James and another agent will break the unsuspecting inmate out of jail in exchange for fake ID’s from his mother after they break out.  The FBI have been chasing this weapons dealer for decades and haven’t even seen a picture of her for years.  James never backs down from a challenge, but life in prison is nothing like he’s ever experienced before.  Can he keep it together to pull off this very difficult mission?

Fans of this series will not be disappointed in this third book.  This is James’s most difficult mission yet and there are several times where he almost gets killed.  His sister, Lauren, is with him on the mission after having recently completed her training and is a great addition to the team.  The action and suspense are written so that most readers will have difficulty putting it down.  The ending is satisfying and does not feel rushed.  Recommended for young readers who like spy books.

The Boy Who Dared by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

Published May 27, 2010 Award Winners , Historical Fiction , RAC 1 Comment
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Genre:  Historical Fiction

# of Pages:  174 p.

RAC Book:  Yes

Iowa Teen Award 2010

This WWII story is based on true accounts of a boy named Helmuth who lived in Germany when Hitler took office and was forced to join the Hitler Youth.  As he got older he began listening to an illegal radio and was shocked to find out how much the German media was keeping from the people.  He decided to create some pamphlets informing citizens of the actual losses Germans were suffering in the war.  He was caught for his crimes and faced trial and a possible death sentence for what he had done.  Helmuth had to come to terms with the fact that he may die at a young age and wondered if he felt it was worth it for standing up for what he believed in.

This chilling story based on true facts moves quickly and provides a different view of WWII.  Bartoletti helps young readers to see what it was like to be a German during this time, how they were lied to, how afraid they were, and the kind of torture the Nazis were capable of doing even to their own citizens.  Fans of books from this era will enjoy this and want to know more about this person.  The only criticism would be that fans will want to know more about Helmuth than is provided in the story.

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