An unflinching look at the paradox of redeemable human beings who commit unredeemable acts. The author develops as a teacher while we witness the challenges of the classroom. What is writing for? the book asks. It is for self-discovery. We cannot make the effort to write without revealing something about ourselves. What jumps out from these pages is the poignant relationships established between these desperate boys and their writing teacher. Also a sad commentary on the 1990s attitude toward criminal justice. ( )

I truly enjoyed this book. It was an eye-opening read to something I never really knew about. It really makes you think and reconsider how you see people. ( )

Oh for cripes sake. Salzman is genius. He keeps writing about things I imagine myself to have no interest in, and I keep falling under his spell and becoming fascinated by his subjects. Can you imagine lol'ing several times in an exposition about guiding teenage murderers to express their hearts in writing? Well, I did, and I bet if you read this you will too. But of course mostly you'll be moved and have your perceptions of the juvenile criminal system and its participants shaken upside-down.

Only one thing I want to say is that, if at first the writing seems to show too much talent, Salzman to have too much success, for this to be true, I advise you to: 1. keep reading and 2. remember that these are just a few of the kids, the ones who really wanted to be in this class... many of the other kids are probably similarly intelligent and sensitive, but don't want to be in a (sissy? academic? futile?) writing class.

Oh, also, keep reading to the very end, the acknowledgements and everything.

Seriously. Stop reading my review and go read this book. ( )

This was required reading for a child development course. It was engaging but I wonder if I was left feeling for the juveniles what I was supposed to. In fact, I found myself entirely curious about the author, his life, and how he found himself teaching these youngsters. From here, I will no doubt read his other work. ( )

I loved this book! I don't even know how I came about reading it or where the book came from--I just found it on my bookshelf.
With this book, Salzman and his writers/juvenile criminals lifted me by the feet and shook up my beliefs and ideas that I thought were pretty firm in their place. What a mess they are now! Salzman isn't preachy and I'm not sure what his message is....I admire that he admits that he doesn't know either. He gives a sincere account of his experiences and lets the reader share them for what its worth...

This book caused me to explore my beliefs and my own approach to volunteer work. I'm inspired by his dedication--I've faced similar annoyances in my own work such as arriving to class on schedule to find that they're on lock-down and he made the trip for nothing--but handled them with much less grace and let these setbacks rationalize my decision to quit. He, however, never lost sight of the commitment he made to his kids. I respect his honesty in sharing embarrassing moments and making himself completely vulnerable to us and to his kids who try so hard to harden themselves---he is a true role model. Kevin's north star poem at the end had me sobbing at my kitchen table. My feeling now is a longing to find out what's become of the subjects of this book---I'm especially attached to kevin and Francisco Javier....I want them to really know how much their writing has affected me. ( )