prisoners

Presents a collection of poems by young people who were charged and incarcerated as adults at the age of sixteen or seventeen.

"They didn't know who they had. So begins Yusef Salaam telling his story. No one's life is the sum of the worst things that happened to them, and during Yusef Salaam's seven years of wrongful incarceration as one of the Central Park Five, he grew from child to man, and gained a spiritual perspective on life. Yusef learned that we're all "born on purpose, with a purpose." Despite having confronted the racist heart of America while being "run over by the spiked wheels of injustice," Yusef channeled his energy and pain into something positive, not just for himself but for other marginalized people and communities. Better Not Bitter is the first time that one of the now Exonerated Five is telling his individual story, in his own words. Yusef writes his narrative: growing up Black in central Harlem in the '80s, being raised by a strong, fierce mother and grandmother, his years of incarceration, his reentry, and exoneration. Yusef connects these stories to lessons and principles he learned that gave him the power to survive through the worst of life's experiences. He inspires readers to accept their own path, to understand their own sense of purpose. With his intimate personal insights, Yusef unpacks the systems built and designed for profit and the oppression of Black and Brown people. He inspires readers to channel their fury into action, and through the spiritual, to turn that anger and trauma into a constructive force that lives alongside accountability and mobilizes change. This memoir is an inspiring story that grew out of one of the gravest miscarriages of justice, one that not only speaks to a moment in time or the rage-filled present, but reflects a 400-year history of a nation's inability to be held accountable for its sins. Yusef Salaam's message is vital for our times, a motivating resource for enacting change. Better, Not Bitter has the power to soothe, inspire and transform. It is a galvanizing call to action"--.

Part two of Stephen King's six installment novel about a group of prisoners awaiting execution at Cold Mountain Penitentiary in 1932, told from the point of view of the superintendent of cell block E.

A semi-autobiographical account of the author's experiences in the Valley of the Typees on the island of Nuku Hiva, told through the character of Tommo, a sailor who jumps ship and lives for months among the valley's happy people.

"An urgent call to free those buried alive by America's legal system, and an inspiring true story about unwavering belief in humanity-from a young lawyer and important new voice in the movement to transform the system"--Provided by publisher.

"After his thievery conviction in 1724, Oliver Cromwell Pitts is sent from England across the Atlantic to America where he is enslaved on a tobacco farm, never giving up on finding his sister, Charity, brought to the colonies on a different ship"--Provided by publisher.

While in Charlestown Prison in the 1940s, young Malcolm Little reads all the books in the library, joins the debate team and the Nation of Islam, and emerges as Malcolm X.

Held captive by the brutal Kaiser since age six when she witnessed her mother's murder, Theodosia, called Ash Princess, is now sixteen and prepared to reclaim the throne by any means necessary.

In 1937, a prison guard's only daughter has gone missing. Inmate Tommy is the only one who knows the truth, but both of their lives depend on the search's outcome. Two decades earlier, a boy named Shanley dreams of shedding his dingy existence and finding his real father in America. When the chance comes to cross the Atlantic, he must use all of his ingenuity to survive a volatile and foreign world.

Provides a look at the U.S. prison system, discussing its history and offering information on women and racial groups in prison, what life in prison is really like, and life after incarceration. Includes discussion questions, color photographs, a glossary, and further resources.