Unchained

by L.B. Tillit

After two years in a loving home, TJ's mother got him back. She was clean. No pot. No meth. His chest felt like it was burning. His heart was racing. Trapped. He felt trapped. He didn't have a say. Everything he had come to care about would be gone: Miss Dixie, hot meals, friends, Mae's little hand, and Annabelle. And the brutal life he'd escaped quickly reclaimed him. Kaden Cruz didn't run after him. Instead his voice boomed, "You owe us." TJ didn't look back. But he knew this wasn't the end of Kaden Cruz. He could still hear his father's voice. "It's not free. You'll have to pay them back one day."

Genres: Young Adult, Realistic Fiction, Fiction, African American, Fostering, High School

197 pages, Perfect Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

Reviews

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

TJ had a taste of the good life after his father over-dosed on Meth and he was taken away from his drug addict mother. TJ landed in foster care with Miss Dixie. There he met people who were struggling just like him, but he also found affection and stability. He ate good food, had a safe place to sleep, and did well in school. When the social worker comes to pick him up after two years in Miss Dixie's loving home, TJ is angry, confused, and scared. Why does he have to go back to a mother who never took care of him and the gang-run streets he finally got away from? His mother has straightened out her life, kind of. Instead of drugs, she has found a new addiction in men, so she still isn't real interested in taking care of TJ. Then there is the street gang TJ began hanging out with before he was taken away. It seems they haven't forgotten about TJ, and they think he owes them a favor or two for the kindness they showed him a lifetime ago. TJ's life had gone from hopeless to hopeful and back again. What does he have to live for now? How can he survive this new life, the demands of the gang, and his mother's inattention? What does he have to hold on to now that Miss Dixie's warm, safe home has been taken away? TJ has to decide how to live his life, but he makes many bad decisions along the way to where he really belongs. A good read for students in grades 9 and up, especially those who have enjoyed the Bluford High series, books by Sharon Draper and Sharon Flake, and other urban fiction. Some bad language, drug abuse, gang violence, and sexual encounters, but TJ's story does deliver a hopeful message.

[Mark Tainter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought unchained was a pretty decent book. Unchained is about a kid that has had a bad childhood because he sees his parents just look through him and don't really care about him so he starts hanging out with the hillside vipers and they try to take him into there gang. Then his dad overdoses and he is put in foster home with a bunch of other kids. While he is at this new house he has a chance to start a new life instead of being in a gang. People who will like this book are people who like to see a good change in people and like a good ending.

[Amanda Mendez · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was one of the first books I read this year. I love this book and this author. This book was short but really good. It was about how a kids parents were crack heads and did a lot of drugs. So the parents lost custody of their kid. He then went to a foster house. He then fell in love with one of the girls their and he protected her at school from bullies. There is not much I can say because it's been a while since I read it. But I do remember loving this book.

[Shaeley Santiago · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my usual taste in books, but this story about a kid who tries to avoid becoming part of a gang and then sees gang membership as his only option for survival is one that some of my students would enjoy. It's also a reflection on the social services system and the challenges of breaking out of a negative cycle when you're a teen living with parents who are involved in drugs. #hubchallenge

[Paul Kowalyszyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

An engaging story just right for struggling readers at the middle and high school levels.

[Sarah Akl]

Unchained by L.B. Tillit contains one hundred and ninety-seven pages. The story focuses on showing the reader that everyone can change into a better person if they want to. The book was published by Saddleback Educational in Guangzhou, China 1963. It was a short story. I enjoyed reading it. I think that it deserves to be a long story with a lot more details. The story ending was like a happily ever after. The main character of the story is TJ who lived in a foster home. After he was taken away from his drug addict mother and his father died from an overdose of Meth, he got to experience what a good life could be like. However, he returned to his life with his mother after she got clean from drugs. TJ made a wrong choice by joining the gang which would teach him a life lesson. The main theme of the book is believing in yourself. TJ keeps reminding himself to believe in himself, his future, and his relationships. Believing in these kinds of things motivated him throughout his life. It assisted him to overcome the challenges that he had to face. The point of view of the author was that being optimistic is a significant belief that helps you to live happily. The author tried to show that he was optimistic despite the rough childhood that he lived. He comes back to visit his girlfriend in the foster home. This proves his belief in his relationship with her. He was looking at what happened to him from a positive outlook. If he didn’t have drug-addicted parents, he wouldn’t have met people that changed him into a better person. I agree with that theme. Believing and being optimistic no matter what happens to you keep you going in life. Doubting yourself could impact negatively your life. You would turn out achieving nothing in life. The other theme of the book is to be yourself. I agree with that theme. TJ became another person when he joined the gang. He started to beat people up to prove his loyalty to the gang. He thought that joining it was the only way to survive in the neighborhood. In the end, he realized that the only way to live his life is to be himself. He learned not to be like anyone else. I had three favorite portions of the book. First, when TJ moved to a foster home where he met people that were struggling in life like him. Second, TJ made a family that loved, cared about him, and gave him the love that he deserved. They showed him that families don’t have to be connected by blood. Bond is stronger than blood. There are people out there that could care about you even though they aren’t your biological parents or siblings. Third, TJ chose to return to his foster family after the gang boss died. A woman suggested that TJ should lead the gang. However, he decided not to. He wanted to go back to his old life where his foster family was. I had three least favorite portions of the book. First, when TJ was a child, he witnessed awful scenes that a boy his age shouldn’t witness. He saw his parents smoking drugs and unconscious at the house. They didn’t have any responsibilities toward him. He didn’t grow in a welcomed, healthy, and beloved environment. Second, TJ’s mother wanted him back just so that she could get the child benefit money that the government provided. She didn’t want him because she missed him. Third, when TJ joined the gang and started beating up people. He started to be another person just to prove himself to the boss of the gang. I enjoyed the story. It was a different story than the ones I read before. It was my first time reading a book where the main character lived a harsh childhood. In addition, he was a child whose parents didn’t care about him. TJ was the kind of person that learns from his mistakes. He didn’t repeat the same mistake twice. TJ had a choice to lead the gang. However, he decided not to because he realized that joining it in the first place was a wrong decision. I am like him in this way. I make mistakes and I learn from them. They help me to make the right decisions later on in life. I believe that the only way for me to learn is by making mistakes. I would recommend this book to my family and friends.

[Bethany Estrada · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have you ever had those moments where you feel like you belong? Or feel like you were tired and had a bad life? Well your not alone. You might think you had a bad life but theirs other that had worst. I recommend this book for people that are having a bad time at the moment. This book is so overpowering you can almost feel his emotions. During his life time he had really bad times. But that did not stop him. He just kept on living his life but he still had some hard times. But he knows if he kept on going, better would come to him.
I also really recommend this to people who can relate to this boy growing up because yes he did have a hard life but got through it and everyone should feel like they can get through it in any situations such as he did. If you read the book you know his life as a child was exposed to many things a child shouldn't see or know. Yes he had ups and downs but he always got through it and i feel like that is what the message in the book is trying to say because some people don't have that in their mind they only look at the negative. This book is a wake up message for some of us going through a lot.

[Veronica · Rating 4 out of 5]

This tells a brutally honest story with ups and downs, but an ultimately happy ending. I felt that it was pretty well done. It was short but effective. I personally felt that TJ and Annabelle's relationship would have been more powerful as a brother-sister one, instead of a romantic one, as they were adoptive siblings. Having a positive familial relationship to influence him is as narratively satisfying, if not more so, than a romantic one. Overall, it was a good story with events that have weight and actions that have consequences.

[Golden Secondary School · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book because it shows that sometimes foster homes are better and safer for people to live in. In this book, TJ is in "debt" to a local gang and with two drug using parents, a foster home seemed like the best choice for him.

I recommend this book to people who like edgy realistic fiction who are in Grade 10 or older.

Reviewed by Arun.

[Sarah K. · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was a good storyline, well thought out. It could have been written better, it felt like the author should have taken a few more writing classes. It would have helped a lot if the sentence length varied, it was really choppy. Five words here, Five words there, Five more words, and so on. Bottom line, good storyline, poor writing.

[Adidas5b · Rating 5 out of 5]

My opinion on Unchained is great, I recommend this book if you love real life books or gangster books.

[Mr. Suchecki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good book, read this thing!

[Mitu Bagchi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the content & themes in this book.

[Annika Bjerke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quick and easy and sad.

[Catherine Sebastian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book the end was amazing that’s all I can say

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Don't waste your life trying to become someone you're not."

[Zach S · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. It has a good story line, but the style of writing is not as great as I had hoped. The book lacked much detail but was full of emotion. It did really captured the reader. It is about a boy named T.J. whose father died from drug overdose and whose mother is a drug addict. He struggles between his family and his gang life. He is taken in by a foster home where he is truly cared for. He gets to know people and begins to do better in school after a couple years. He's then forced to go back to live with his mother, who they say is sober and able to raise him. This screws up his life again and he begins getting recruited by gangs again. He has to try to think for himself and keep his life going in the right direction. The way the book is written, it’s almost as if it was written as the events were happening in the aspect that the sentences are so short and not wordy at all. The level of reading required to read this book is very low, but regardless, it is very well written and personally I enjoyed it more than I think some would because of this. It was straight to the point and didn’t attempt to conceal anything as some novels do. This book as also extremely easy to relate to especially for someone my age because the boy in the book is around my age and the scenarios he was in, his thoughts, and the actions he took were quite similar to the way I might have acted, making the whole book much more realistic. And with the book being more realistic comes the feeling of compassion toward the characters and the familiar sensation of being lost in yet another well written piece of literature. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in hearing about how a boy struggles to find where his true family is and get his life on course.

[Hanad · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book call unchained, by L.B Tillit. this book is about a young boy whose parents are addicted to drug. TJ is 5 years old, his parents are always high.They don't take him to school. He go to school by himself, and he come back by himself. He was his own until he was 13 years old .TJ joined a gang group called Hillside Vipers. the leader of the gang call BB. BB send to TJ to deliver drugs while other members of the group doing dangerous work. In order to gain more tattoos in you neck,which means your dangerous man you most deliver drugs, sell, and if it necessary to kill people. His father died because of drug. He was a member of other gang too. But he never went out and sell drugs. . The protective services tool TJ to the south of the city. The protective service sent TJ's mother to talk a program in order to get back her son.They took him Mrs. Dixie. He started new life, new home, new family, new friends and new school. Two years latter his mother wants him back. but he doesn't want to go back to the old life. Anyway his mother get him back. weeks letter he rejoined his gang group. other gang grout attacked TJ and his friends. BB died how was a leader of TJ's group and 2 others. TJ and other girls made it a life.
I like this book about many things. the way author wrote the book. the length of the book it is not too big and too small. I a los liked about this book by drawing attention to the people the affect of the drug. this book is showing how drug can destroy your life, or someone you car about. i gave this book 4 stars because it talks about how drugs destroyed many families, and friends.
By Hanad Yusuf

[Arlena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Author: L. B. Tittle
Published By: Saddleback Publishing
Recommend Age: 14+
Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
Raven Rating:4
Blog Reviewed For: GMTA
Review:
"Unchained" by L. B. Tittle was very interesting read. I found it very interesting to see how L.B. Tittle was able to get this family on the right path from..the mother having been strung out on pot and meth...father dying of drug overdose and the child (TJ) heading in the wrong direction of life due to drugs and gangs.

This novel is definitely for the student or person who may be faced with these type of situations in their life. I believe this young man problems were greatly helped by being removed from the problem(s) and that being drugs and gangs. By Thomas Jahman (TJ) getting away from that old type of life for a few years gave him some hope that there was something out there greater for him. Having people like Ms. Miller, Ms. Dixie, Annabell, and Billy, and even his Mom(toward the end) was definitely a plus for TJ in making some wise choices.
So, what good choices did TJ make?

Now, TJ was back to his place at the dinner table with Ms Dixie and all her children.
Back to saying a prayer before dinner and back to holding Annabelle's hand. Back home!
OK, I have probably told you to much but it is a good read to pick up!

I enjoyed "Unchained" and I think anyone wanting to read and know about inner city drugs and gangs would really get something positive out of this read. I would definitely recommend "Unchained."


Read more: http://www.greatmindsthinkaloud.probo...

[Nicki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Booktalk- TJ has a hard life. He lives with his mom and his dad but all they care about are drugs and alcohol. For as long as TJ can remember, he has had to fend for himself. When TJ's dad suddenly dies and the police find his home unfit, he is taken away to a foster home. He hates the other foster kids; hates that he has to start in a new school; hates that decisions are made for him. But as TJ adjusts to this new life, he realizes that he may have finally found a home and people who love him. So when after two years in his foster home his mother suddenly wants him back, TJ's world is turned upside down. He lives again with his detached, yet clean, mother and discovers that the only way to survive in his old world is to join a gang. TJ has to fight to make the right decisions. He finally realizes that he does have a say in what happens, but he has to be the one to make a change.

This is a really fast book and will probably do best in urban collections. There were a few typos and the story moves fast but for the most part, would be appealing to teens. There is enough in here to be interesting to reluctant readers but an interesting enough story that teens who read often would also like.

[Emma Bennett · Rating 5 out of 5]

L.B Tillet shows you the rough parts in life and how it's not so easy to get by when you have noone. It makes you look at life differently and imagine you're in others shoes before you judge them. The book revolves around a young boy named TJ that just wants to make his way through life but reality hits him hard.
TJ’s was growing up in a troubled home. His parents were into drugs and his father soon passes away from an OD. After his dad died he got involved with a gang that was not something anyone should get involved in. Tj gets taken away from his mother and is forced to live with a foster family. Little does he know it was the best thing that has ever happened to him. TJ cleaned up his act and was turning into a respectful, caring young man. After 2 years TJ’s mom was clean. He didn't want to go back but didn't have a choice. TJ went back down hill when he went back with his mom. He got into the same stuff he was into before, drugs and gangs. Tj trying to make it through life and get away from his mom, he figures it out in the end.
I would recommend this book to anyone. It shows you that kids will someday learn right from wrong and everything will always work out in the ending. Even though life's a bumpy road, everything will be okay.

[Jackie · Rating 3 out of 5]

TJ Young's parents are drug addicts and they live from day to day, never knowing where food or any necessity of life will come from. When TJ finds his father dead from a drug overdose, TJ is put into foster care and into the home of Miss Dixie. There, he finds love, acceptance, food, and friends. He finally feels as if he belongs somewhere and has a family...even though they all are different. Annabelle, the girl with red hair and a fragile exterior reaches out to him and they become each other's strength. Two years or more go by and TJ is at peace and doing well in school.

That is until the day Miss Miller, his case worker shows up and tells TJ his mother has been drug free and is ready to take him back. TJ is appalled and knows nothing has really changed. He is right...his mother is neglectful and distant. He is in a new high school and is being recruited by gangs. He is spiralling downward and fast.

Unchained is a gritty, no-holds-barred glimpse into urban lit. Violence, drugs, and gangs are a reality for TJ and yet he finds a way to unchain himself from the chaos.

[Karin · Rating 4 out of 5]

TJ has had a rough life. Both his parents have been hooked on drugs since he was a baby. He's been neglected for as long as he can remember. Being left on his own most of the time it's no surprise he comes into contact with the gangs of the community. He is just about to get heavily involved when disaster strikes at home and he is removed by Child Protective Services and placed in a foster home.

When TJ moves in with Miss Dixie, he is introduced to a world like he never knew existed. There, he learns what family is supposed to be and what is really important in life.

Eventually TJ's mother gets her act together enough to get TJ back. When he goes home his old friends are waiting for him to pick up right where he left off.

Will TJ be able to resist the world of fast money and dangerous people after knowing what life is supposed to be like and how family is supposed to behave?

UNCHAINED is a fast read from the Saddleback Gravel Road series. It is considered a Hi-Lo book - High interest, Low reading level. Hi-Lo books aren't usually very good, but this one is definitely worth reading.

[Lisa · Rating 1 out of 5]

As a parent, it is important to read books that you children are reading. My son came home with this book from school. My eyebrows were raised at the cover which depicted a black boy. After I reading the back of the book, I was interested in seeing how this story played out. I read the book and was highly disgusted at the tremendous amount of unnecessary race references especially concerning skin tone. The stereotypical black mamie and fragile white girl who needs to be rescued by the black man made an appearance. This author should be ashamed of themselves by perpetuating these negative stereotypes. The images in books can have the same negative impact as images on the screen. I'd like to ask the author of this book why couldn't T.J. be white and born to meth addicted rednecks? Why couldn't he have fallen in love with a brown eyed brown skinned girl named Annabelle instead of a blue eyed white girl? I have tons of questions for L.B. Tillet. Overall, I would tell this author to stop writing books for children and teens that affect negatively the subconscious. This book is racist and biased. Furthermore, teachers and librarians should not recommend books without reading them first.

[Terry · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent story that follows our protagonist from a bad childhood through his adolescence in foster care and gang life. The plot sails through short chapters, as TJ's drug-addicted parents barely hold things together and he sorts out his few bad options. This easily fits on a ladder from Life in Prison to Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty to The Barrio Kings to Street Pharm. Nothing new here, but readable and compelling.

[Mrs. Cubby Culbertson · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Don't waste your life trying to become someone you're not." Good quote to sum up this story.

Reading the opening chapters, I found myself thinking, I can't do this one...it is dark, seemingly with no hope as TJ begins to build a wall to hide/protect his true feelings...too much like the lives many of my students have to witness or live themselves. Then the tide turns.... I thought, ok, there is hope, everything will work out...but I'm only half way through the story. Yep, there's the u-turn, back to the hopeless cycle. But TJ is strong! His actions finally began to help quell the uneasiness that I found churning in my own stomach.

The story is filled with emotion. Short chapters will attract Hi/Lo middle and high school readers, some of whom will relate to the story only too well. Hopefully, they will be able to hang on to the "unchained" message and be able to live out the quote from above.

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

T.J.'s parents are both drug addicts, and he's never had a comforting home life. He has always been on his own and has found that being mean and tough is the only way he'll survive. He is romanced by a local gang, but when his father dies, he is sent to live in a foster home on the other side of town and experiences love and regular meals for the first time.

Life is good for T.J., for a while. But when his mother gets clean, he is returned to her and has to face the same gang that he escaped from. T.J. is faced with difficult choices and bad decisions, but deep down, he is a good person who must control his own fate.

*****SPOILER ALERT*******


I thought it was a little convenient that T.J.'s gang is shot to death and he is handed the opportunity to get away, but I think the book will appeal to teens and it does offer positive choices for kids in bad situations.

[Jenn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quick Picks Winner:
TJ is a boy with a difficult family life. His parents are addicted to drugs and he feels invisible in his home. Feeling unloved and unwanted, he gets swept up in the beginnings of gang life even though he is not sure that's where he wants to be. When his father dies suddenly, TJ is taken from his home and put in foster care. This event changes his life tremendously, but can it change his life permanently?

TJ's character lets his guard down and allows the reader to see who he really is on the inside and tries to help you understand why he does the things he does. While this book was just okay for me, I feel that this is a book that I would put in the hands of a high school student to understand the slippery slope that can lead one to gang life. It also provides an opportunity to explore that nature vs. nurture type dilemma.

[Lavabearian (Jessica) · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story was well told. I was hooked from the first chapter when you hear that TJ knows why he is not loved because his parents are always too high to care. I was really glad to read that TJ never caved into using drugs since he saw what it did first hand. His involvement in the gang was clearly for survival. The scene right before he goes back to live with his mom and he is in Annabelle's room, I thought for sure that he not show resistance, but it was nice to read a story where the boy can be a gentleman. Although the foster home environment seems a little too good to be true, this leaves readers with resolution.

I would pair this book with Todd Strasser's If I Grow Up, Simone Elkeles Perfect Chemistry, Alison Van Diepen's Snitch. For the list I would vote YES.

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story was interesting and I did enjoy it, however both the characters and the story were told on a superficial level, never bringing the reader inside. Almost half the book felt like a ‘tell’, giving the reader the impression that the main character was just rattling off what was going on around him. Near the end we were brought a little more inside and the flow of the story improved.

A more careful editing of the book is encouraged.

In reading up on the publisher, Saddleback Publishing, I learned that it has a division for struggling readers. Taking this into consideration can explains why the text does not go into details about what’s going on.