children of prisoners

"Steps into the world of growing up a poor Black girl in Indiana with a family fragmented by incarceration, exploring how isolating and complex such a childhood can be. As Ashley battles her body and her environment, she embarks on a powerful journey to find the threads between who she is and what she was born into, and the complicated familial love that often binds them"--Amazon.

"Ten-year-old Della can rely on her older sister, Suki, for anything, but when Suki attempts suicide, Della must seek help and speak out about the sexual abuse they've both suffered at the hands of their mother's boyfriend"--.

Memoir tracking the author's childhood in her unconventional family--with a father who suffered heavy mood swings, a mother who attempted to make things her version of normal, and two older sisters who did not share her last name. Everything got worse after the FBI raid and the court sentencing that took her father away. After that, Jiordan had to navigate friends who couldn't understand what she was feeling, and her own strange feeling that she was fading away, disappearing.

"Miles Pruitt has been struggling in high school. When his dad is sent to prison, things get worse. He quits studying, fails classes, and gets kicked off the basketball team. How will he pick himself up and move forward?"--Back cover.

"[A] romance about a teen whisked off by an anonymous benefactor to a prestigious boarding school for the arts in Michigan. Sixteen-year-old Jacaranda Abbott has spent years moving between foster homes due to her mother's imprisonment for attempted murder of an abusive boyfriend. When a video of Jacaranda singing at the Miami Publix supermarket at which she works goes viral, it changes the course of her life. The admission essay she writes to Midwestern Arts Academy sets up the details of this story, giving way to a long series of confessional, heartfelt, and unanswered emails directed to Mr. Smith, as she dubs the mystery man responsible for the fairy-tale scenario now playing out"--Kirkus Reviews.

"After 'rotten bad year' on the mainland, eleven-year-old Jett returns to Newfoundland to spend the summer with his sprightly Grandma Jo (whose hair is dyed cotton candy blue to match her house), bringing along a shameful secret involving the betrayal of a friend. As summer unfolds, Grandma Jo nurtures in Jett his sense of caring for others while giving him space to breathe. Jett finds himself examining memories of his past like bits of sea glass--arranging them in a way he can make sense of as he struggles to come to terms with past mistakes"--Provided by publisher.

"One of the most prominent voices of her generation debuts with an extraordinarily powerful memoir: the story of a childhood defined by the ever looming absence of her incarcerated father and the path we must take to both honor and overcome our origins. For as long as she could remember, Ashley has put her father on a pedestal. Despite having only vague memories of seeing him face-to-face, she believes he's the only person in the entire world who understands her. She thinks she understands him too. He's sensitive like her, an artist, and maybe even just as afraid of the dark. She's certain that one day they'll be reunited again, and she'll finally feel complete. There are just a few problems: he's in prison, and she doesn't know what he did to end up there. Through poverty, puberty, and a fraught relationship with her mother, Ashley returns to her image of her father for hope and encouragement. She doesn't know how to deal with the incessant worries that keep her up at night, or how to handle the changes in her body that draw unwanted attention from men. In her search for unconditional love, Ashley begins dating a boy her mother hates; when the relationship turns sour, he assaults her. Still reeling from the rape, which she keeps secret from her family, Ashley finally finds out why her father is in prison. And that's where the story really begins. Somebody's Daughter steps into the world of growing up a poor Black girl, exploring how isolating and complex such a childhood can be. As Ashley battles her body and her environment, she provides a poignant coming-of-age recollection that speaks to finding the threads between who you are and what you were born into, and the complicated familial love that often binds them. "Ashley Ford's prose is glass-so clear, sharp and smooth that the reader sees, in vivid focus, her complicated childhood, brilliant mind, and golden heart. The gravity and urgency of Somebody's Daughter anchored me to my chair and slowed my heartbeat-like no book has since Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye. Ashley Ford is a writer for the ages, and Somebody's Daughter will be a book of the year." -- Glennon Doyle, author of #1 New York Times bestseller Untamed and founder of Together Rising"--.

"Children from all walks of life experience various emotions when their parent is in jail or prison, but they learn there are ways to communicate their feelings that will help improve their situation and remind them they are not alone"--OCLC.

"Ten-year-old Della can rely on her older sister, Suki, for anything, but when Suki attempts suicide, Della must seek help and speak out about the sexual abuse they've both suffered at the hands of their mother's boyfriend"--.

"Jordan's father was sent to jail for a reason Jordan doesn't know. His mom won't talk about it and spends most of her time crying. Jordan tags school property, refuses to take tests, and picks on kids who look like easy targets. He's sent to detention almost every day, wondering if that's what it feels like to be in jail. But when Jordan discovers the truth about his dad's crime, he has to question the path he's on"--Back cover.