Children of the State: Stories of Survival and Hope in the Juvenile Justice System
- Downloads：1322
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2023-01-24 19:21:41
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Jeff Hobbs
- ISBN：B0B3Y94YP1
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
- Download
Summary
From the bestselling and critically acclaimed author of The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace comes a timely， insightful， and groundbreaking look at the school-to-prison pipeline and life in the juvenile “justice” system。
There has been very little written about juvenile detention and the path to justice。 For many kids， a mistake made at age thirteen or fourteen—often resulting from external factors coupled with a biologically immature brain—can resonate through the rest of their lives， making high school difficult， college nearly impossible， and a middle-class life a mere fantasy。 Here， in Children of the State， Jeff Hobbs challenges any preconceived perceptions about how the juvenile justice system works—and demonstrates in brilliant， piercing prose: No one so young should ever be considered irredeemable。
Writing with great heart and sensitivity， Hobbs presents three different true stories that show the day-to-day life and the challenges faced by those living and working in juvenile programs: educators， counselors， and—most importantly—children。 While serving a year-long detention in Wilmington， Delaware—one of the violent crime capitols of America—a bright young man considers both the benefits and the immense costs of striving for college acceptance while imprisoned。 A career juvenile hall English Language Arts teacher struggles to align the small moments of wonder in her work alongside its statistical futility， all while the San Francisco city government considers a new juvenile system without cinderblocks—and possibly without teachers。 A territorial fistfight in Paterson， New Jersey is called a hate crime by the media and the boy held accountable seeks redemption and friendship in a demanding Life & Professional Skills class in lower Manhattan。 Through these stories， Hobbs creates intimate portraits of these individuals as they struggle to make good decisions amidst the challenges of overcoming their pasts， and also asks: What should society do with young people who have made terrible mistakes？
Just as he did with The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace， Jeff Hobbs has crafted a gorgeous， captivating， and transcendent work of journalism with tremendous emotional power。 Intimate and profound， relevant and revelatory， Children of the State masterfully blends personal stories with larger questions about race， class， prison reform， justice， and even about the concept of “fate。”
There has been very little written about juvenile detention and the path to justice。 For many kids， a mistake made at age thirteen or fourteen—often resulting from external factors coupled with a biologically immature brain—can resonate through the rest of their lives， making high school difficult， college nearly impossible， and a middle-class life a mere fantasy。 Here， in Children of the State， Jeff Hobbs challenges any preconceived perceptions about how the juvenile justice system works—and demonstrates in brilliant， piercing prose: No one so young should ever be considered irredeemable。
Writing with great heart and sensitivity， Hobbs presents three different true stories that show the day-to-day life and the challenges faced by those living and working in juvenile programs: educators， counselors， and—most importantly—children。 While serving a year-long detention in Wilmington， Delaware—one of the violent crime capitols of America—a bright young man considers both the benefits and the immense costs of striving for college acceptance while imprisoned。 A career juvenile hall English Language Arts teacher struggles to align the small moments of wonder in her work alongside its statistical futility， all while the San Francisco city government considers a new juvenile system without cinderblocks—and possibly without teachers。 A territorial fistfight in Paterson， New Jersey is called a hate crime by the media and the boy held accountable seeks redemption and friendship in a demanding Life & Professional Skills class in lower Manhattan。 Through these stories， Hobbs creates intimate portraits of these individuals as they struggle to make good decisions amidst the challenges of overcoming their pasts， and also asks: What should society do with young people who have made terrible mistakes？
Just as he did with The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace， Jeff Hobbs has crafted a gorgeous， captivating， and transcendent work of journalism with tremendous emotional power。 Intimate and profound， relevant and revelatory， Children of the State masterfully blends personal stories with larger questions about race， class， prison reform， justice， and even about the concept of “fate。”
Reviews
Alexandra （birdyreads）
，
Overall this was an interesting and ingightful book。 The many different perspectives helped provide a larger picture to the juvenile justice system。 I would most certainly recommend this to anyone who comes into regular contact with troubled youth。
Libriar
，
"Children of the State" looks at three different juvenile justice rehabilitation-type situations in three different states。 Hobbs had no idea what the outcome would be when he started following various juvenile offenders and he had no idea that Covid-19 would very much change the circumstances for incarcerated youth。 For those looking for happy endings or easy solutions， this is not that book。 Hobbs does a good job of telling the stories of the three environments that he observed。 This is a good "Children of the State" looks at three different juvenile justice rehabilitation-type situations in three different states。 Hobbs had no idea what the outcome would be when he started following various juvenile offenders and he had no idea that Covid-19 would very much change the circumstances for incarcerated youth。 For those looking for happy endings or easy solutions， this is not that book。 Hobbs does a good job of telling the stories of the three environments that he observed。 This is a good book to start conversations about the juvenile justice system。 ARC provided by the publisher and NetGalley。 。。。more
Staci Vought
，
The subject matter of this book intrigued me。 It was essentially 3 books in one， though， and so it may have a hard time catering to any particular reading audience。 It was part story of the young adults involved in the system （my favorite aspect）， partly the behind the scenes struggle of the educators and staff， and partly a history of the juvenile system。 I think it needed to have more depth in ONE of those areas as opposed to all three， especially since several locations were visited。 I found The subject matter of this book intrigued me。 It was essentially 3 books in one， though， and so it may have a hard time catering to any particular reading audience。 It was part story of the young adults involved in the system （my favorite aspect）， partly the behind the scenes struggle of the educators and staff， and partly a history of the juvenile system。 I think it needed to have more depth in ONE of those areas as opposed to all three， especially since several locations were visited。 I found the COVID aspects to be engaging because I had never thought about the impact it would have on this community。 。。。more
Mary Beth
，
Jeff Hobbs uses the stories of several children and adults involved with the juvenile justice system to illustrate the challenges the system faces， and the small， but significant， improvements that are being made。Hobbs says that children everywhere make mistakes and do dumb things。 But as police officers and prosecutors make the decisions on who to arrest， who to charge， and whether to send them home with probation or send them to a juvenile facility， their decisions often are influenced by syst Jeff Hobbs uses the stories of several children and adults involved with the juvenile justice system to illustrate the challenges the system faces， and the small， but significant， improvements that are being made。Hobbs says that children everywhere make mistakes and do dumb things。 But as police officers and prosecutors make the decisions on who to arrest， who to charge， and whether to send them home with probation or send them to a juvenile facility， their decisions often are influenced by systemic racism， familial/community support and money。 In other words， kids in middle class and upper class families are less likely to be arrested in the first place， and have the resources to hire lawyers to demonstrate that the child in question will be supported if put on probation。 Poor families can't do that， and so their kids end up in juvenile facilities。Hobbs features two different facilities - one in Delaware and one in San Francisco - and one intensive non-profit program in New York City。 He chooses to focus primarily on two kids， Josiah and Ian， and several staff members at the three facilities。 Through these lenses， you are introduced to the juvenile justice system in three different areas of the country。 While there are differences in how different states treat juveniles and where they are incarcerated， there are similarities， including the mandate to educate and rehabilitate children so they are less likely to commit crimes in the future。 The adults featured in his book struggle with this mandate as they struggle through the COVID-19 outbreak， and general budgetary issues that all governmental agencies deal with。 The kids are trying to figure out how to survive the experience of juvenile hall and how they can change their trajectories， even a little， to stay out of the penal system。Hobbs has written a very compelling book that focuses on the good being done in the area of juvenile justice， but also doesn't shy away from sharing what still isn't working well。 Hobbs doesn't try to offer answers or really even commentary on what happens， but simply reports the stories as it was told to him。 If you are interested in the justice system in the U。S。， you will find this book fascinating and informative。 Thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy of this book。 。。。more
Rachel B
，
3。5 starsThis book offers a look at the juvenile justice system in a couple different U。S。 states， through the in-depth stories of some of the teens in the system。I liked it overall， especially the parts that detailed how the education system worked in the different facilities。However， I felt it was a little long and repetitive at times， and there was a lot of profanity - and not all of it was as quotes， which I always find unprofessional。 God's and Jesus' names were used as exclamations occasio 3。5 starsThis book offers a look at the juvenile justice system in a couple different U。S。 states， through the in-depth stories of some of the teens in the system。I liked it overall， especially the parts that detailed how the education system worked in the different facilities。However， I felt it was a little long and repetitive at times， and there was a lot of profanity - and not all of it was as quotes， which I always find unprofessional。 God's and Jesus' names were used as exclamations occasionally in the quotes from students。I received a copy of this from the publisher via NetGalley。 。。。more
Harriet Smith
，
This book was eye opening about a marginalized section of the country--juveniles in jail/reform schools。 While I learned a lot， I preferred the author's earlier work， The Short and Tragic Life if Robert Peace。 This book was eye opening about a marginalized section of the country--juveniles in jail/reform schools。 While I learned a lot， I preferred the author's earlier work， The Short and Tragic Life if Robert Peace。 。。。more
Candace
，
Jeff Hobbs writes what he calls "immersive journalism，" and I'd say "Children of the State" fits that bill entirely。 It would be impossible to cover all aspects of the juvenile justice system all around the country， so he picks three examples of different programs in various parts of the US。 The result is both encouraging and not。 There are a lot of people working very hard in this book--teachers， administrators， and students--but the sense of so much possibility going to waste is heartbreaking。 Jeff Hobbs writes what he calls "immersive journalism，" and I'd say "Children of the State" fits that bill entirely。 It would be impossible to cover all aspects of the juvenile justice system all around the country， so he picks three examples of different programs in various parts of the US。 The result is both encouraging and not。 There are a lot of people working very hard in this book--teachers， administrators， and students--but the sense of so much possibility going to waste is heartbreaking。 Nonetheless， with each person so well and deeply drawn， readers will be glued to the page。 An excellent piece of non-fiction writing。 。。。more
Priscilla King
，