This is a non-fiction book, but many of David Chura’s stories about life on the inside of a detention centre for the juveniles that he taught there have a fictional quality. It’s funny in places, and in some, as lyrical as many of my favourite novels. We learn something of the drug addicted, alcoholic, and downright appalling parenting that led many of the young people down the murky path to a jail cell. The author points to the fact that many of the young people leave these institutions more wounded than when they arrived, which only sets them up to continue with the reckless behaviour that will see them go through the revolving gates of the prison system throughout their lives. He hints at some solutions, but based on his experiences, a society set on retribution is not ready to contemplate these. If I ever write a novel based on such a setting, this is a book I will have to revisit for some pointed research. ( )

A series of vignettes taken from the author's experiences working as a teacher for juveniles in an adult jail in New York. He takes the dialog down verbatim so expect to see plenty of F-words. Chura has a gift for capturing the personalities (both the kids and the prison staff) in just a couple of pages, and you wind up pitying all of them and wondering what could be done to fix the terrible mess that is the corrections system in America. I would recommend it with like books such as No Matter How Loud I Shout: A Year in the Life of Juvenile Court. ( )