Know any youth in public detention facilities? Are you serving this population as a professional or volunteer? Sweeney has done a major study of these types of facilities and their access to books, reading, and efforts to assist troubled kids and teens in their basic literacy needs. This book gives the background of detention for youth in the U.S. and describes access to basic literacy needs. Recommendations are given for literacy initiatives with this group; the special circumstances under which programs and collections can and are being supported, and some possibilities for really helping these troubled kids succeed in the world. The reader will not find here possibilities of working with technology because of access issues; so, the emphasis is a traditional print-based approach. So, if you are working with this population, this book is an essential read.

Legal requirements for detention education are the cornerstone of this text. It goes into why literacy (with reading and information understanding being the definition of literacy in this text) and detained youth improve their status significantly. There are techniques explained as to how to work toward the goal of making literacy something all at-risk youth achieve, but it falls short when considering the power of the electronic world for these youth. Definitely something to read if you are starting a program or want to improve your work with various at-risk juveniles. Well referenced. Bottom line – this read reminds us about what needs to happen not only with at-risk students but students in general. Recommended.