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Juvie
Heart-wrenching and real, Juvie tells the story of two sisters grappling with accountability, sacrifice — and who will be there to help you after you take the fall.
Sadie Windas has always been the responsible one — she’s the star player on her AAU basketball team, she gets good grades, she dates a cute soccer player, and she tries to help out at home. Not like her older sister, Carla, who leaves her three-year-old daughter, Lulu, with Aunt Sadie while she parties and gets high. But when both sisters are caught up in a drug deal — wrong place, wrong time — it falls to Sadie to confess to a crime she didn’t commit to keep Carla out of jail and Lulu out of foster care. Sadie is supposed to get off with a slap on the wrist, but somehow, impossibly, gets sentenced to six months in juvie. As life as Sadie knew it disappears beyond the stark bars of her cell, her anger — at her ex-boyfriend, at Carla, and at herself — fills the empty space left behind. Can Sadie forgive Carla for getting her mixed up in this mess? Can Carla straighten herself out to make a better life for Lulu, and for all of them? Can Sadie survive her time in juvie with her spirit intact?
Sadie Windas has always been the responsible one — she’s the star player on her AAU basketball team, she gets good grades, she dates a cute soccer player, and she tries to help out at home. Not like her older sister, Carla, who leaves her three-year-old daughter, Lulu, with Aunt Sadie while she parties and gets high. But when both sisters are caught up in a drug deal — wrong place, wrong time — it falls to Sadie to confess to a crime she didn’t commit to keep Carla out of jail and Lulu out of foster care. Sadie is supposed to get off with a slap on the wrist, but somehow, impossibly, gets sentenced to six months in juvie. As life as Sadie knew it disappears beyond the stark bars of her cell, her anger — at her ex-boyfriend, at Carla, and at herself — fills the empty space left behind. Can Sadie forgive Carla for getting her mixed up in this mess? Can Carla straighten herself out to make a better life for Lulu, and for all of them? Can Sadie survive her time in juvie with her spirit intact?
320 pages, Hardcover
First published October 8, 2013
57 people are currently reading
1401 people want to read
About the author
Steve Watkins
65 books78 followersSteve Watkins is the author of the young adult novels Stolen by Night, On Blood Road, Juvie, What Comes After, and Great Falls, as well as the middle-grade novels Down Sand Mountain, Sink or Swim, and the Ghosts of War series, including The Secret of Midway, Lost at Khe Sanh, AWOL in North Africa, and Fallen in Fredericksburg.
A former professor of journalism, creative writing, and Vietnam War literature, Steve is the cofounder and editor of Pie & Chai, a monthly magazine that you can find and read online at pieandchaimagazine.com.
A former professor of journalism, creative writing, and Vietnam War literature, Steve is the cofounder and editor of Pie & Chai, a monthly magazine that you can find and read online at pieandchaimagazine.com.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 151 reviews
January 15, 2015
I REALLY enjoyed this book. It has a definite Orange is the New Black feeling about it, both the situation and the characters, and I loved all of the different characters and their relationships both in and outside of Juvie.
How Sadie ended up in there was a little annoying for me because it's just plain stupid, but I guess it shows how good people can get dragged into things... I don't know. But that was the only problem I had with it, otherwise I was totally entertained - funny, scary and emotional. And the end is awesome, open-ended and full of interpretation, love it!
And in answer to the cover question 'Would you do time for your sister's crime?' HELL NO! Especially not for Carla.
How Sadie ended up in there was a little annoying for me because it's just plain stupid, but I guess it shows how good people can get dragged into things... I don't know. But that was the only problem I had with it, otherwise I was totally entertained - funny, scary and emotional. And the end is awesome, open-ended and full of interpretation, love it!
And in answer to the cover question 'Would you do time for your sister's crime?' HELL NO! Especially not for Carla.
October 20, 2022
Boring in the first few chapters. But it might be just me. But it picked up in the middle which gives it a 4.3
November 22, 2013
Could have been great, but just turned out so-so. The first third really intrigued me, showing that going to lockup is a real experience, that one day a person is driving her motorcycle, and then later that day she's getting a red jump suit. Sadie has a fascinating, warm relationship with her three year old niece; the relationship with her sister didn't quite work as well for me, but these are real people. There are great issues raised - families, trust, the difference between guilt and innocence, who is a friend - and some memorable moments.
Then, "Juvie" bogged down. There were too many girls in the block, or perhaps they weren't distinct enough. The flash-backs didn't really build tension or enrich my feelings for the characters. By the end, there wasn't any momentum, and the book coasted to the finish. I suppose that I wanted to see Sadie have some profound shift, take some really responsibility for her part in enabling her sister AND mother AND father, but Watkins didn't play it that way. All the pieces fall into place, feeling a bit too convenient for my taste.
Then, "Juvie" bogged down. There were too many girls in the block, or perhaps they weren't distinct enough. The flash-backs didn't really build tension or enrich my feelings for the characters. By the end, there wasn't any momentum, and the book coasted to the finish. I suppose that I wanted to see Sadie have some profound shift, take some really responsibility for her part in enabling her sister AND mother AND father, but Watkins didn't play it that way. All the pieces fall into place, feeling a bit too convenient for my taste.
February 25, 2014
I've run a juvenile detention poetry workshop for seven years. We combine reading YA and memoirs with writing real life experience poetry. I'm always on the look-out for books that portray Juvenile Detention with both the harsh starkness and the occasional burst of compassion that you find among a guard or other employee working with the teens. I was happy to see the adults in the book portrayed as realistic. I also enjoyed the way the relationship between the girls on the unit played out--from Bad Gina to Good Gina to the girl who cries in her cell--all of these are very realistic.
I did have a couple of "I don't think so" moments in the opening when Sadie turns herself in. I wasn't sold on the motorcycle situation and wasn't sure how that even added to the story. It's too bad that opens the book because it did set up a situation for me where I was expecting not to believe the rest of the story.
My only other bump is that usually a kid who is in for a long term sentence such as the six month one that Sadie is serving, goes to a different type of juvenile detention facility than the one portrayed in the book. These longer term facilities are set up so the teens can learn life skills such as cooking and attend a regular type school situation.
The type of facility portrayed in the book is the type kids are in while waiting for their sentencing or serving for a shorter period such as a month period or less. This is not only this book which often does not portray the different types of facilities. I have seen this error in many YA books about juvie. The kids in juvie who read these know right away the errors and call it out.
I will add this book to our YA Booklist.
I did have a couple of "I don't think so" moments in the opening when Sadie turns herself in. I wasn't sold on the motorcycle situation and wasn't sure how that even added to the story. It's too bad that opens the book because it did set up a situation for me where I was expecting not to believe the rest of the story.
My only other bump is that usually a kid who is in for a long term sentence such as the six month one that Sadie is serving, goes to a different type of juvenile detention facility than the one portrayed in the book. These longer term facilities are set up so the teens can learn life skills such as cooking and attend a regular type school situation.
The type of facility portrayed in the book is the type kids are in while waiting for their sentencing or serving for a shorter period such as a month period or less. This is not only this book which often does not portray the different types of facilities. I have seen this error in many YA books about juvie. The kids in juvie who read these know right away the errors and call it out.
I will add this book to our YA Booklist.
April 1, 2021
G BensonJuvie
This book is about Sadie and Carla, two sisters who couldn’t be more different. Sadie is the narrator of this story. She is a serious, studious person. She’s a great basketball player, a reliable daughter and a devoted girlfriend. She even hopes to get a scholarship.
Carla, on the other hand, is quite the opposite. She has a three-year-old daughter, Lulu, who she leaves with Sadie when she goes out to get drunk and high with her friends.
One day, Carla convinces Sadie to come to one of her parties. Wanting to be a good sister and in the attempt to bond with Carla, Sadie agrees and goes. Soon after however, Carla leaves Sadie and goes off with her friends. When Sadie wants to go home, she goes upstairs to find Carla completely ‘off her head’, drunk. Knowing that she has to get her sister home, Sadie takes it upon herself to get her sister into the car and in doing so, two boys from the party barge into the back seat and plead Sadie to take them to the supermarket to buy more beer. She wants to avoid confrontation, so she reluctantly agrees. When they get to the supermarket, the two boys tell Sadie to pull over in a corner of the car park. The two boys leave the car and soon after, two policemen knock on the window. It turns out that the two boys were using Sadie’s car to deliver drugs and now the two sisters had been caught in possession.
Because of Carla’s history of experimenting with alcohol and drugs of her own, Sadie intuitively knew that if the police thought for a second that she was mixed up with the current situation, she would lose custody of her daughter, Lulu. So, to avoid this at all costs, Sadie tells the police that Carla has nothing to do with the drugs found in the car and that it was her idea to give the two boys a ride. Before she does this, she makes Carla promise to get a job, start spending more time with Lulu and start going to meetings at Alcoholics Anonymous.
After speaking with her lawyer, Sadie is reassured when he tells her that she should get off with a warning only. However, incredibly, she receives 6 months in a juvenile detention center - juvie!
Sadie’s whole life flashed before her eyes. She got kicked off the basketball team and lost her chances at a scholarship. Her life was crumbling around her.
At this point of the story, I found myself completely hooked and sitting on the edge of my seat. It was tense! As a reader, you totally respect Sadie for putting her whole life on hold so that her sister could fix her own problems, but you feel very frustrated that all her hard work and good grades will be forgotten and that she’ll always have the six months sentence on her permanent record.
Whilst Sadie is at juvie, she faces a lot of challenges and hardships. Carla, during this time, still hadn’t even begun to get her life back together. She hadn’t spent any more time with Lulu and hadn’t gone to any AA meetings. Things weren’t progressing as planned.
A couple of months later, still in the detention center, Sadie meets a guard who she had already briefly met at a basketball game a couple of years earlier. They talk and a friendship develops between them. In time, following Sadie’s wishes, the guard ends up meeting Carla and helps her get back on track. This is where the book ends. Carla begins to get her life back together and Sadie has completed the first half of her sentence in juvie.
This book covers a lot of subjects. Self-harm, drug dealing, murder. Everything that you would expect to find in a detention center. It manages, though, to stay light and easy to read. It educates the reader about a lot of different, difficult topics without being too serious or patronizing.
I enjoyed it. However, I think that it would have been very interesting for the reader to have both Sadie’s and Carla’s points of view. Remember that it is written from Sadie’s perspective alone.
As a consequence, this book focuses solely on Sadie and shows no compassion towards Carla, who obviously suffered from feelings of guilt after her sister was put into juvie and went through the many hardships of getting her life back on track.
In my opinion, the ending of the book seemed to come a little prematurely. It would have been nice to see Sadie get out and pick up where she left off. We often experience this with films – story lines being left open for the possibility of a sequel, but I don’t get this impression with this story, hence my feeling that its final stage came a little too early. Nevertheless, it wasn’t a bad ending. It left me reassured that everything was going to work out and be okay eventually.
As a final note, I personally found this book a little hard to keep up with. It constantly jumped backwards and forwards between the present and the future, which took some time to get used to. That said, being challenged is a good thing and the experience of the read has certainly taught me yet another way in which to tell a story.
Check out my blog for more reviews! :)
https://roxannereadsbooks.wixsite.com...
This book is about Sadie and Carla, two sisters who couldn’t be more different. Sadie is the narrator of this story. She is a serious, studious person. She’s a great basketball player, a reliable daughter and a devoted girlfriend. She even hopes to get a scholarship.
Carla, on the other hand, is quite the opposite. She has a three-year-old daughter, Lulu, who she leaves with Sadie when she goes out to get drunk and high with her friends.
One day, Carla convinces Sadie to come to one of her parties. Wanting to be a good sister and in the attempt to bond with Carla, Sadie agrees and goes. Soon after however, Carla leaves Sadie and goes off with her friends. When Sadie wants to go home, she goes upstairs to find Carla completely ‘off her head’, drunk. Knowing that she has to get her sister home, Sadie takes it upon herself to get her sister into the car and in doing so, two boys from the party barge into the back seat and plead Sadie to take them to the supermarket to buy more beer. She wants to avoid confrontation, so she reluctantly agrees. When they get to the supermarket, the two boys tell Sadie to pull over in a corner of the car park. The two boys leave the car and soon after, two policemen knock on the window. It turns out that the two boys were using Sadie’s car to deliver drugs and now the two sisters had been caught in possession.
Because of Carla’s history of experimenting with alcohol and drugs of her own, Sadie intuitively knew that if the police thought for a second that she was mixed up with the current situation, she would lose custody of her daughter, Lulu. So, to avoid this at all costs, Sadie tells the police that Carla has nothing to do with the drugs found in the car and that it was her idea to give the two boys a ride. Before she does this, she makes Carla promise to get a job, start spending more time with Lulu and start going to meetings at Alcoholics Anonymous.
After speaking with her lawyer, Sadie is reassured when he tells her that she should get off with a warning only. However, incredibly, she receives 6 months in a juvenile detention center - juvie!
Sadie’s whole life flashed before her eyes. She got kicked off the basketball team and lost her chances at a scholarship. Her life was crumbling around her.
At this point of the story, I found myself completely hooked and sitting on the edge of my seat. It was tense! As a reader, you totally respect Sadie for putting her whole life on hold so that her sister could fix her own problems, but you feel very frustrated that all her hard work and good grades will be forgotten and that she’ll always have the six months sentence on her permanent record.
Whilst Sadie is at juvie, she faces a lot of challenges and hardships. Carla, during this time, still hadn’t even begun to get her life back together. She hadn’t spent any more time with Lulu and hadn’t gone to any AA meetings. Things weren’t progressing as planned.
A couple of months later, still in the detention center, Sadie meets a guard who she had already briefly met at a basketball game a couple of years earlier. They talk and a friendship develops between them. In time, following Sadie’s wishes, the guard ends up meeting Carla and helps her get back on track. This is where the book ends. Carla begins to get her life back together and Sadie has completed the first half of her sentence in juvie.
This book covers a lot of subjects. Self-harm, drug dealing, murder. Everything that you would expect to find in a detention center. It manages, though, to stay light and easy to read. It educates the reader about a lot of different, difficult topics without being too serious or patronizing.
I enjoyed it. However, I think that it would have been very interesting for the reader to have both Sadie’s and Carla’s points of view. Remember that it is written from Sadie’s perspective alone.
As a consequence, this book focuses solely on Sadie and shows no compassion towards Carla, who obviously suffered from feelings of guilt after her sister was put into juvie and went through the many hardships of getting her life back on track.
In my opinion, the ending of the book seemed to come a little prematurely. It would have been nice to see Sadie get out and pick up where she left off. We often experience this with films – story lines being left open for the possibility of a sequel, but I don’t get this impression with this story, hence my feeling that its final stage came a little too early. Nevertheless, it wasn’t a bad ending. It left me reassured that everything was going to work out and be okay eventually.
As a final note, I personally found this book a little hard to keep up with. It constantly jumped backwards and forwards between the present and the future, which took some time to get used to. That said, being challenged is a good thing and the experience of the read has certainly taught me yet another way in which to tell a story.
Check out my blog for more reviews! :)
https://roxannereadsbooks.wixsite.com...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 13, 2017
This book was all too real for me, as I could see so many of my students in the same position as Sadie, taking the wrap for a sibling who has lost her way.
This novel exposes the truth, that even good kids can go astray, for reasons that aren't even their fault.
The book alternates between how Sadie came to prison and the time before she turns herself in and what happens after she's behind bars. Her experiences express a real commentary on prison violence, prisoner mistreatment, rehabilitation efforts, and juvenile education opportunities in the system.
More so, Sadie's story is a cautionary tale of how life can pass you by as you deal with your consequences. It was a fast and enjoyable read. Perfect for middle school.
This novel exposes the truth, that even good kids can go astray, for reasons that aren't even their fault.
The book alternates between how Sadie came to prison and the time before she turns herself in and what happens after she's behind bars. Her experiences express a real commentary on prison violence, prisoner mistreatment, rehabilitation efforts, and juvenile education opportunities in the system.
More so, Sadie's story is a cautionary tale of how life can pass you by as you deal with your consequences. It was a fast and enjoyable read. Perfect for middle school.
April 16, 2014
This is such an important subject that needs more attention from both authors & readers.
The storyline set in the Juvenile Detention Facility was often descriptive and compelling but veered off track on unrealistic events
ex stopping prison escape
Unfortunately the storyline flashbacks to life before sentencing lacked quality writing.
Family problems included addiction, divorce, & hoarding - while important topics they often detracted from more interesting topic of life in
Detention.
Problems seemed to be quickly resolved.
The storyline set in the Juvenile Detention Facility was often descriptive and compelling but veered off track on unrealistic events
ex stopping prison escape
Unfortunately the storyline flashbacks to life before sentencing lacked quality writing.
Family problems included addiction, divorce, & hoarding - while important topics they often detracted from more interesting topic of life in
Detention.
Problems seemed to be quickly resolved.
July 11, 2021
This started with a lot of potential, and then fizzled. The present-past flip flop for the setting was not necessary, since only a few months separated the two, and there was no ending. It just stopped, with no conclusions or finishing of the characters’ stories. Disappointing.
March 31, 2019
This book actually surprised me and succeeded my expectations. I loved how real the story felt, it seemed to give a legit insight into what it would be like in juvie. The point of view its told from was extremely intriguing because it set the reader up to experience everything going on with and around Sadie.
February 5, 2025
It is a really great book about a girl who loves playing basketball and she is really good at it but sadly she had to give basketball up and go to juvie.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 3, 2017
The book juvie by steve watkins, is About a young girl in high school who is going to juvie. Sadie the mains character was arrested for drug dealing even though the cops set her up for it. In the beginning of the story the book starts off interesting but has some parts that get boring. I would recommend this book to people like drama. The story goes through some conflicts but also has happy parts. BOOM.
July 5, 2013
**Note: Video review to appear on 60secondrecap.com on Monday, October 7, 2013.**
Certain books send me into fits of ecstasy. Books by authors I’ve loved in the past. Books with particularly intriguing premises. So yes, I pretty much had a fit when I saw that one of my favorite authors had written a new book that could be mine, ALL MINE, in e-galley form this week. I had to have it. I had to read it. I paced the floor of my apartment, racking up a solid half-mile on my pedometer, until the heavens opened, angels sang, and I received the notification email that I’d been approved to read Steve Watkins’ newest: Juvie (due out October 8, 2013).
Here’s what you need to know. Juvie tells the story of Sadie Windas, a basketball star, good student, and all-around nice kid who takes the fall for her delinquent older sister’s mistake and ends up in juvie for six months. Sadie tells herself that her sister will clean up her act, that she’s doing the right thing for little Lulu, her sister’s three-year-old daughter. But lockup is lockup, and while Sadie suffers through hell inside, who’s to say that Carla is actually going to make good on any of her promises?
I was predisposed to like Juvie. I love Steve Watkins’ writing and his command of realistic fiction. I love the gently spiritual overtones to a lot of his stories, and his commitment to his characters’ redemption. Plus, the topic was intriguing: What happens when a good kid ends up “inside”? I wanted to know where Sadie’s journey would take her, especially as she encountered a cast of interesting, heartbreaking, and terrifying supporting characters.
So here’s the giant bummer. Even though I wanted to love Juvie, even though I tried to love Juvie, even though I enjoyed the story in many ways–especially Sadie’s relationships with her fellow inmates, and her believable response to the mental torture of being locked up–ultimately, this book just didn’t go anywhere.
Sadie lands in juvie because she’s trying to save her sister. So, one might think that the message of this book is that we can’t save anyone else–we can only save ourselves. The thing is, Sadie’s sacrifice does work , which is at cross-purposes with Sadie’s big emotional moment in a juvie crisis situation–that she’s no longer going to take the fall for anyone else.
Here’s another problem: It’s pretty clear that Sadie’s relationship with her boyfriend, like most of her close relationships, is fairly one-sided. She’s there for him; he’s rarely there for her. (Or he’s there when it’s convenient.) And yet, at the end of the story,
There were a lot of beautiful moments in this book, even moments of deep insight into human nature and behavior. But what I couldn’t get past was the feeling that Juvie just wasn’t sure what it was about. I’m not saying don’t read it; I’m just saying that you shouldn’t be surprised when it doesn’t quite deliver.
Certain books send me into fits of ecstasy. Books by authors I’ve loved in the past. Books with particularly intriguing premises. So yes, I pretty much had a fit when I saw that one of my favorite authors had written a new book that could be mine, ALL MINE, in e-galley form this week. I had to have it. I had to read it. I paced the floor of my apartment, racking up a solid half-mile on my pedometer, until the heavens opened, angels sang, and I received the notification email that I’d been approved to read Steve Watkins’ newest: Juvie (due out October 8, 2013).
Here’s what you need to know. Juvie tells the story of Sadie Windas, a basketball star, good student, and all-around nice kid who takes the fall for her delinquent older sister’s mistake and ends up in juvie for six months. Sadie tells herself that her sister will clean up her act, that she’s doing the right thing for little Lulu, her sister’s three-year-old daughter. But lockup is lockup, and while Sadie suffers through hell inside, who’s to say that Carla is actually going to make good on any of her promises?
I was predisposed to like Juvie. I love Steve Watkins’ writing and his command of realistic fiction. I love the gently spiritual overtones to a lot of his stories, and his commitment to his characters’ redemption. Plus, the topic was intriguing: What happens when a good kid ends up “inside”? I wanted to know where Sadie’s journey would take her, especially as she encountered a cast of interesting, heartbreaking, and terrifying supporting characters.
So here’s the giant bummer. Even though I wanted to love Juvie, even though I tried to love Juvie, even though I enjoyed the story in many ways–especially Sadie’s relationships with her fellow inmates, and her believable response to the mental torture of being locked up–ultimately, this book just didn’t go anywhere.
Sadie lands in juvie because she’s trying to save her sister. So, one might think that the message of this book is that we can’t save anyone else–we can only save ourselves. The thing is, Sadie’s sacrifice does work , which is at cross-purposes with Sadie’s big emotional moment in a juvie crisis situation–that she’s no longer going to take the fall for anyone else.
Here’s another problem: It’s pretty clear that Sadie’s relationship with her boyfriend, like most of her close relationships, is fairly one-sided. She’s there for him; he’s rarely there for her. (Or he’s there when it’s convenient.) And yet, at the end of the story,
There were a lot of beautiful moments in this book, even moments of deep insight into human nature and behavior. But what I couldn’t get past was the feeling that Juvie just wasn’t sure what it was about. I’m not saying don’t read it; I’m just saying that you shouldn’t be surprised when it doesn’t quite deliver.
March 30, 2015
Sadie Windas has a bright future ahead of her. She's an excellent student, a star basketball player and has a great boyfriend. She's hoping to receive a basketball scholarship to whichever school her boyfriend, Kevin, decides to attend, so they can go to the same college together. Everything changes in one night, when she's in the wrong place at the wrong time. She has agreed to go to a party with her older sister Carla, who hangs out with druggies and likes to get high. At the party, Carla meets a couple of guys who ask them to take them to 7-Eleven to buy more beer for the party. At the 7-Eleven they disappear, leaving their bag behind in the car. Before Sadie knows what's happening she and Carla are arrested for selling drugs. Carla has a three-year-old daughter Lulu who she is raising by herself. Carla also has a record and will go to jail if she is found guilty, leaving either Sadie and Carla's mother to take care of Lulu or Lulu being sent to Social Services. Sadie agrees to plead guilty to save Carla from going to jail. Since she doesn't have a record, she's most likely not to be found guilty and let go with just a slap on the wrist and community service. Things don't go quite the way they expect and Sadie is sent to a juvenile detention facility, or juvie.
Juvie is told from Sadie's point of view. Chapters alternate between her time in juvie and the events leading up to Sadie's arrest and conviction.
This was a quick read and I think teens who like realistic fiction will enjoy this book. This was another book I found very frustrating (The Gospel of Winter was another one). I'm mad at the adults for letting Sadie take responsibility for something she knew nothing about. I don't think her mom should have let her take the blame and I think Carla should have just taken responsibility for her actions. Sadie is a strong character and she's able to survive juvie, but that shouldn't have been an option for her.
***Update & Spoilers***
****************
****************
After finishing the book, I'm not as upset at Sadie's mom or Carla for letting Sadie take responsibility for the drug sale arrest. Carla does seem to get her stuff together by the end of the book and Sadie realizes that while she isn't guilty, she isn't totally innocent either. She could have told Carla she didn't want to go to the party or she could have told the guys she wouldn't drive them to 7-Eleven. I don't think she deserves to go to juvie, but she has accepted the consequences and has grown from the experience. By the end of the book, Sadie has only served three of the months and has three more months to go, but you know she's going to be ok.
Juvie is told from Sadie's point of view. Chapters alternate between her time in juvie and the events leading up to Sadie's arrest and conviction.
This was a quick read and I think teens who like realistic fiction will enjoy this book. This was another book I found very frustrating (The Gospel of Winter was another one). I'm mad at the adults for letting Sadie take responsibility for something she knew nothing about. I don't think her mom should have let her take the blame and I think Carla should have just taken responsibility for her actions. Sadie is a strong character and she's able to survive juvie, but that shouldn't have been an option for her.
***Update & Spoilers***
****************
****************
After finishing the book, I'm not as upset at Sadie's mom or Carla for letting Sadie take responsibility for the drug sale arrest. Carla does seem to get her stuff together by the end of the book and Sadie realizes that while she isn't guilty, she isn't totally innocent either. She could have told Carla she didn't want to go to the party or she could have told the guys she wouldn't drive them to 7-Eleven. I don't think she deserves to go to juvie, but she has accepted the consequences and has grown from the experience. By the end of the book, Sadie has only served three of the months and has three more months to go, but you know she's going to be ok.
November 22, 2015
Sadie Windas, a high school junior who gets good grades and is captain of the basketball team, is entering a juvenile detention facility for six months for a crime she didn't commit. The story stars as Sadie prepares herself for juvie. She says her goodbyes to her beloved 3-year-old niece, her mother and her unreliable and often drunk and drug-using sister. Her father lives nearby, but he is mentally ill and a hoarder so she basically says her goodbyes to him through a closed door.
The chapters alternate between what is happening now and what happened that led to her going to juvie. Sadie makes a series of bad decisions, including taking her substance-using sister to a party and then driving two sketchy guys to a 7-Eleven, only to get caught in a drug sting. It seemed a little implausible to me that she and her sister would have been convicted in the sting; a better lawyer could have argued entrapment, especially since Sadie clearly had no idea what was going on when the undercover cop entered her car and handed her money. No one in the justice system believes that she and her sister would have driven two guys they didn't know to a 7-Eleven, and while it's a stupid thing to do, it's a believable story.
In any case, because Sadie's sister, Carla, has priors she will automatically go to jail for at least a year if it's determined that she had anything to do with this this drug deal. Their lawyer's advice is to pin everything on Sadie, since she has no priors, she will probably just have to do community service. As we find out, that is not the case. She gets a stricter judge who sentences her to juvie unless she discloses the names the two men who put the drugs in her car, but as she does not know their names, she is stuck.
Life in juvie is what is expected--it's cold, scary, and dangerous. My favorite quote from this book is when Sadie is on trash detail and is bonding with some of her fellow inmates: "I'm two months into a six-month sentence in juvie, picking up other's peoples soggy nastiness and singing 'Itsy-Bitsy Spider' in Spanish with a pyromaniac and a girl who shot her boyfriend and a ten-year-old who clubbed a guy with a metal pipe so she could have his bike. And they're the nice ones."
Sadie's survival at juvie and her decision to take the fall for her sister make her an appealing character. The book is a quick read and a sad study in how a few bad decisions can really tear apart your life. This book could have gone in a much darker direction, but it remained hopeful at the end. Sadie has a realistic voice and I think this book will appeal to a variety of teens--not just those who get into trouble.
The chapters alternate between what is happening now and what happened that led to her going to juvie. Sadie makes a series of bad decisions, including taking her substance-using sister to a party and then driving two sketchy guys to a 7-Eleven, only to get caught in a drug sting. It seemed a little implausible to me that she and her sister would have been convicted in the sting; a better lawyer could have argued entrapment, especially since Sadie clearly had no idea what was going on when the undercover cop entered her car and handed her money. No one in the justice system believes that she and her sister would have driven two guys they didn't know to a 7-Eleven, and while it's a stupid thing to do, it's a believable story.
In any case, because Sadie's sister, Carla, has priors she will automatically go to jail for at least a year if it's determined that she had anything to do with this this drug deal. Their lawyer's advice is to pin everything on Sadie, since she has no priors, she will probably just have to do community service. As we find out, that is not the case. She gets a stricter judge who sentences her to juvie unless she discloses the names the two men who put the drugs in her car, but as she does not know their names, she is stuck.
Life in juvie is what is expected--it's cold, scary, and dangerous. My favorite quote from this book is when Sadie is on trash detail and is bonding with some of her fellow inmates: "I'm two months into a six-month sentence in juvie, picking up other's peoples soggy nastiness and singing 'Itsy-Bitsy Spider' in Spanish with a pyromaniac and a girl who shot her boyfriend and a ten-year-old who clubbed a guy with a metal pipe so she could have his bike. And they're the nice ones."
Sadie's survival at juvie and her decision to take the fall for her sister make her an appealing character. The book is a quick read and a sad study in how a few bad decisions can really tear apart your life. This book could have gone in a much darker direction, but it remained hopeful at the end. Sadie has a realistic voice and I think this book will appeal to a variety of teens--not just those who get into trouble.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 23, 2013
Sadie Windas is a responsible kid: a high school junior, talented basketball player, devoted girlfriend, and reliable daughter. Her older sister Carla, on the other hand? Not so much. A selfish single mother with substance abuse issues, Carla relies on her sister and their mother for lots of help in raising her three-year-old daughter Lulu. When Carla and Sadie are arrested by an undercover cop for their alleged roles in a drug transaction -- which is truly a case of stupidity and wrong-place wrong-time factors -- Carla faces a minimum of four years in prison. Not wanting to see her niece grow up without a mother, Sadie makes a risky sacrifice: she takes responsibility for a crime she didn't commit so that her sister can go free. Now she'll be spending the next six months in juvie.
The scenes alternate between the incidents in the juvenile detention facility and the events in Sadie's life up to and immediately following her arrest. As I've mentioned before, I used to work in an alternative high school. I'm not saying that I know what goes on in juvie, but I know what went on at my school, and this book seems pretty spot-on to me. There are "accidental" injuries, chairs being thrown, escapes attempted...and if a fight erupts, all of a sudden half the room is fighting and getting out weeks of pent-up slights and frustrations.
The plot moves at a good pace, and the transitions back to Sadie's pre-juvie days give the reader time to breathe before delving back into the suffocating atmosphere of the detention center. At first, I found the writing a bit repetitive: Sadie says the word "juvie" so many times in the first handful of chapters that it was driving me crazy, but eventually that stopped and I could focus on the story itself instead of word choice or repetition.
Juvie's premise and portrayal are realistic enough to be frightening. But there's enough heart in the book to balance things out: Sadie spends lots of time on personal reflection, and her faith that her sister will finally get her act together is inspiring. She learns an important lesson, one that her Granny taught her years ago but is becoming much more applicable now: "You wake up every morning...no matter what happened the day before, and you tell yourself you're going to do good."
All in all: Worth reading, even if you don't usually read YA. It's a good story, period.
The scenes alternate between the incidents in the juvenile detention facility and the events in Sadie's life up to and immediately following her arrest. As I've mentioned before, I used to work in an alternative high school. I'm not saying that I know what goes on in juvie, but I know what went on at my school, and this book seems pretty spot-on to me. There are "accidental" injuries, chairs being thrown, escapes attempted...and if a fight erupts, all of a sudden half the room is fighting and getting out weeks of pent-up slights and frustrations.
The plot moves at a good pace, and the transitions back to Sadie's pre-juvie days give the reader time to breathe before delving back into the suffocating atmosphere of the detention center. At first, I found the writing a bit repetitive: Sadie says the word "juvie" so many times in the first handful of chapters that it was driving me crazy, but eventually that stopped and I could focus on the story itself instead of word choice or repetition.
Juvie's premise and portrayal are realistic enough to be frightening. But there's enough heart in the book to balance things out: Sadie spends lots of time on personal reflection, and her faith that her sister will finally get her act together is inspiring. She learns an important lesson, one that her Granny taught her years ago but is becoming much more applicable now: "You wake up every morning...no matter what happened the day before, and you tell yourself you're going to do good."
All in all: Worth reading, even if you don't usually read YA. It's a good story, period.
January 14, 2014
"Maybe I'm the only person awake in the entire juvie, or maybe every girl in every cell is sitting up on her bunk. rocking back and forth, the same as me."
SYNOPSIS:
Juvie is about 17 year old Sadie Windas. She's a good basketball player and an even better aunt to her precious niece Lulu. Her sister Carla is a troublemaker and Sadie is always checking up on her.
But, when Carla drags Sadie to a party, the girls somehow get caught in a drug bust that they had nothing to do with. Sadie takes the fall for Carla so that Carla can get her life together and become a better mother to LuLu.
MY THOUGHTS:
I was really excited for this book. I saw book tubers talking about this new release and the synopsis sounded very intriguing, and this book was intriguing sometimes. One concept that I liked from Steve Watkins was the chapters alternated from before Sadie went to juvie, and when Sadie was in juvie.
I loved the relationship between Sadie and her niece, Lulu. This book mostly made me mad because the whole time I thought Carla should have went to jail and Sadie shouldn't have taken the fall. Sadie already acts like more of a mother than Carla. It was just frustrating!
I love Sadie as a character. She is sarcastic, which is always really fun with a character. She is headstrong and doesn't really care what the authorites say in juvie (which probably isn't smart, but it's fun to read).
I thought this book had so much potential with main storyline, juvie, the side plots, the side characters and just EVERYTHING fell flat. I also felt the ending was a bit anticlimactic. It took me forever to get through this book.
Overall, the book was just okay. If you read it, you will probably walk away pondering just what is missing from this book to make it great.
SYNOPSIS:
Juvie is about 17 year old Sadie Windas. She's a good basketball player and an even better aunt to her precious niece Lulu. Her sister Carla is a troublemaker and Sadie is always checking up on her.
But, when Carla drags Sadie to a party, the girls somehow get caught in a drug bust that they had nothing to do with. Sadie takes the fall for Carla so that Carla can get her life together and become a better mother to LuLu.
MY THOUGHTS:
I was really excited for this book. I saw book tubers talking about this new release and the synopsis sounded very intriguing, and this book was intriguing sometimes. One concept that I liked from Steve Watkins was the chapters alternated from before Sadie went to juvie, and when Sadie was in juvie.
I loved the relationship between Sadie and her niece, Lulu. This book mostly made me mad because the whole time I thought Carla should have went to jail and Sadie shouldn't have taken the fall. Sadie already acts like more of a mother than Carla. It was just frustrating!
I love Sadie as a character. She is sarcastic, which is always really fun with a character. She is headstrong and doesn't really care what the authorites say in juvie (which probably isn't smart, but it's fun to read).
I thought this book had so much potential with main storyline, juvie, the side plots, the side characters and just EVERYTHING fell flat. I also felt the ending was a bit anticlimactic. It took me forever to get through this book.
Overall, the book was just okay. If you read it, you will probably walk away pondering just what is missing from this book to make it great.
October 24, 2014
Sadie Windas is the good daughter: the one who gets good grades, leads her basketball team, and stays out of trouble. Since her older sister Carla is constantly getting into trouble and her mother has to work multiple jobs to support the family since her dad left them to live a secluded hoarders’ life that is a big responsibility. But trying to keep her sister out of trouble gets Sadie into trouble herself when they find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time and get arrested for a drug deal that Sadie knew nothing about. Always trying to do what is best for her family, Sadie confesses to this crime to keep Carla out of jail and at home with her daughter Lulu. Juvie is the story of how Sadie ended up in a juvenile detention facility and what happens to her during the time she stays on Unit 3. In alternating chapters Sadie tells us about life in Juvie and what circumstances, actions and choices led her there in the first place. It is a convincing book that tells but doesn’t preach about the consequences of spending time in a juvenile detention facility. And it is equally convincing talking about the reasonable roles and responsibilities for capable young people living in difficult circumstances. Sadie is a relatable character who shows real growth through the book. There are some relatively mature themes with some violent scenes and references to sexual activity that might not be suitable for younger readers. But none of it is gratuitous nor is any of it particularly graphic. Similarly, there is contextually appropriate profanity including a few well-placed F-bombs. But in a book that gives a clear-eyed look at life in the juvenile justice system through the eyes of a capable young woman, this seems completely reasonable.
January 8, 2014
It was a great book for this genre. There is an exploration of good and bad--so many shades of grey. Is innocent the same thing as not guilty? This makes the book a great read for teens. Every decision a person makes can mean the words 'it is not my fault' are at least a little bit not true.
The story made me contemplate the fact that our judicial system has so many flaws. What a waste prison can be--really. You come away feeling that kids in juvie never get a chance to turn their lives around. It also becomes apparent that a person's life is totally changed by being locked up whether one is guilty or innocent. There is no 'sorry we made a mistake' that will ever make up for the lost time an innocent person experiences when put away for another person's crime. It makes you think about all the people that languish in our prisons for years until DNA or some other evidence proves they weren't the perpetrator of one crime or another.
In many ways the book is about love: love for her dad that has a serious psychological problem, love for her mother that is holding things together working two jobs, love for her sister who is weak and repeatedly succumbs to temptation, love for her boyfriend who seems disloyal, love for her grandma and the wise words she left behind and most of all the love for her little niece who needs to have her mom around. Sadie is a strong likeable character who wants to do the right thing--at least as it seems under the circumstances. No matter which way she turns she is truly stuck between a rock and a hard place. We see Sadie learn and grow and make the most of things. She never loses hope that next year will be better.
The story made me contemplate the fact that our judicial system has so many flaws. What a waste prison can be--really. You come away feeling that kids in juvie never get a chance to turn their lives around. It also becomes apparent that a person's life is totally changed by being locked up whether one is guilty or innocent. There is no 'sorry we made a mistake' that will ever make up for the lost time an innocent person experiences when put away for another person's crime. It makes you think about all the people that languish in our prisons for years until DNA or some other evidence proves they weren't the perpetrator of one crime or another.
In many ways the book is about love: love for her dad that has a serious psychological problem, love for her mother that is holding things together working two jobs, love for her sister who is weak and repeatedly succumbs to temptation, love for her boyfriend who seems disloyal, love for her grandma and the wise words she left behind and most of all the love for her little niece who needs to have her mom around. Sadie is a strong likeable character who wants to do the right thing--at least as it seems under the circumstances. No matter which way she turns she is truly stuck between a rock and a hard place. We see Sadie learn and grow and make the most of things. She never loses hope that next year will be better.
July 15, 2013
Full review to come.
Juvie is a realistic but not depressing novel about one sister's decision to take the fall for a mistake for the betterment of her family. Sadie's experience in juvenile detention is by no means a pleasant one, but showed how a good person can make a mistake and still be a good person. It showed that there are all kinds of people in the world and they each have their own ideas of what "good" is. And it showed that people react very differently to situations like juvenile detention. Each of the girls Sadie meets in juvie is different and brings something new and interesting to the story. The exploration and growth of Sadie's relationships with each of her family members was also interesting to read about and provided a sense of hope that definitely benefited the novel.
While this does not read like a fast-paced novel, I still enjoyed all of it. It is more about exploring relationships and coping with one's actions, which I think Watkins did very well. As an examination of people today, it was very interesting. The use of alternating between past and present was a very effective way, in this case, to show both of Sadie's journeys: getting to juvenile detention and surviving within it, and they really helped to show Sadie's true character. Very enjoyable, well crafted novel.
*** I received an advance copy of this novel from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review ***
Juvie is a realistic but not depressing novel about one sister's decision to take the fall for a mistake for the betterment of her family. Sadie's experience in juvenile detention is by no means a pleasant one, but showed how a good person can make a mistake and still be a good person. It showed that there are all kinds of people in the world and they each have their own ideas of what "good" is. And it showed that people react very differently to situations like juvenile detention. Each of the girls Sadie meets in juvie is different and brings something new and interesting to the story. The exploration and growth of Sadie's relationships with each of her family members was also interesting to read about and provided a sense of hope that definitely benefited the novel.
While this does not read like a fast-paced novel, I still enjoyed all of it. It is more about exploring relationships and coping with one's actions, which I think Watkins did very well. As an examination of people today, it was very interesting. The use of alternating between past and present was a very effective way, in this case, to show both of Sadie's journeys: getting to juvenile detention and surviving within it, and they really helped to show Sadie's true character. Very enjoyable, well crafted novel.
*** I received an advance copy of this novel from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review ***
December 15, 2014
I have mixed feelings about this book.
In some ways I loved it. I really liked the main character and I found the position she found herself in really fascinating. I found myself wanting to know more about her life and the decisions she had made to bring her to the position she currently was in. I loved how the story was told in flashbacks and enjoyed uncovering the story as I went along
However for me I wanted so much more. I felt very much like it was cut short and I was left with loads of questions about how things would turn out for the main character long term. I also wanted more from the other characters especially the sister who was being protected to see the impact having someone take the blame for her had and whether it was worth it.
All in all a nice read which I happily read and didn't want to put down but I wanted so much more.
In some ways I loved it. I really liked the main character and I found the position she found herself in really fascinating. I found myself wanting to know more about her life and the decisions she had made to bring her to the position she currently was in. I loved how the story was told in flashbacks and enjoyed uncovering the story as I went along
However for me I wanted so much more. I felt very much like it was cut short and I was left with loads of questions about how things would turn out for the main character long term. I also wanted more from the other characters especially the sister who was being protected to see the impact having someone take the blame for her had and whether it was worth it.
All in all a nice read which I happily read and didn't want to put down but I wanted so much more.
July 18, 2015
When Carla asks her younger sister Sadie (17) to go to a party, Sadie doesn’t want to go. She’s a good student, a good aunt, loving and looking out for her niece Lulu more than her mother half the time; and she is the captain of her High School basketball team.
Her plan is to finish school with excellent marks, and get a basketball scholarship to a University, but going to the party with Carla changes everything.
Told in alternate chapters before and after her conviction, we see what it’s like in juvie, stepping round the other inmates as if they were time bombs ready to explode. Learning what to avoid, that you can’t trust anyone but yourself, as you are surrounded by lies every day. One inmate may be friendly but only because they have their own agenda in getting back at someone else.
Believable characters and an inside look at being in a Juvenile Detention Centre.
Her plan is to finish school with excellent marks, and get a basketball scholarship to a University, but going to the party with Carla changes everything.
Told in alternate chapters before and after her conviction, we see what it’s like in juvie, stepping round the other inmates as if they were time bombs ready to explode. Learning what to avoid, that you can’t trust anyone but yourself, as you are surrounded by lies every day. One inmate may be friendly but only because they have their own agenda in getting back at someone else.
Believable characters and an inside look at being in a Juvenile Detention Centre.
April 10, 2020
This book did NOT do it for me. Maybe I would have felt differently in high school but I don't think so. The book was littered with repetitive cliches and it felt very clear that it was an older man writing what he thought were the basic / immature thoughts of a young woman. The main character was not believable or relatable and all the other characters failed to be humanized by the author. The only "hero" of the story was the main character, and no sympathy or understanding for anyone else in the book was given except maybe a little of the main character's sister and one of the correctional officers. I would not recommend this book outside of YA readers, but maybe even then I wouldn't recommend it to pretty much anyone. I tried to keep an open mind throughout but the character development remained lazy and surface level and the story did not have a clear arc.
August 13, 2020
This was a really good book. Definitely agree with the other posters that it has the OITNB vibe, except instead of a huge prison it has a small community feel. Small cast of inmates, two main guards, and the protagonist’s family. Set in a small town in Virginia. This book would be so awesome to see as a one season teen drama or maybe a movie.
*** Minor spoiler ***
I didn’t like how this book ended with her still in prison. Usually in prison stories they get out and are reunited with their family. Still, I’m not mad about the choice because it does show how long every day feels in prison, and overall it was such a fun read.
*** Minor spoiler ***
I didn’t like how this book ended with her still in prison. Usually in prison stories they get out and are reunited with their family. Still, I’m not mad about the choice because it does show how long every day feels in prison, and overall it was such a fun read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 18, 2016
Man. This was heading straight for a 5 star review. I loved the idea of this story. I was enjoying the writing and was intrigued and turning pages to see how things would turn out for this good girl taking total responsibility for a crime she didn't even commit in order to save her trashy sister. SPOILER ALERT: I HATED THE ENDING. After everything poor Sadie went through, AT LEAST let her be vindicated. If not, AT LEAST let me read about her sentence to completion and see her get out of juvie. What a letdown.
May 2, 2017
Hmmm. I didn't love it. It was one of those books that I didn't really have any particular feelings for. It wasn't good, it wasn't bad. It was kind of just meh. I liked some of the characters, and I guess this had the potential to be a great book but the book just seemed incomplete and the plot was kind of half a plot. 2.5 stars.
May 9, 2017
3.5 stars.
I thought the ending was too formulaic, with , though perhaps the intention was the whole "this is real life" 4th wall break. Too much surface-level conflict, but the moral/emotional dilemma was interesting and the writing was pretty good.
I thought the ending was too formulaic, with , though perhaps the intention was the whole "this is real life" 4th wall break. Too much surface-level conflict, but the moral/emotional dilemma was interesting and the writing was pretty good.
August 5, 2016
Like others, my response to this novel was tepid. The story was okay; but never seemed to move beyond okay. Might be interesting to some middle school readers, though, as it's an interesting topic.
August 15, 2018
I really loved this book up to the last few pages! I felt that the ending was a Massive disappointment! Other then that I really enjoyed the book and encourage you all to read it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 27, 2019
I mean, it wasn't that it was bad or anything, but... this book just felt, incomplete. Flat. A little underwhelming, I hate to say.
It started off as gripping as the premise promised, with a girl taking the retribution for her sister's mistakes - sort of - and giving up her ideal lifestyle for a family that doesn't love her as much as they should. The old technique of flicking between the past and the present every chapter kept the reveal of the incident and trial itself interesting, but as things went on and new inmates and past associates were introduced... the character development began to fall short.
Plot devices that were set up usually followed through to some small extent, but in the end, everything started to feel a little pointless. And it didn't reach any sort of satisfying conclusion whatsoever, just sort of trailed off halfway through the ideal, with enough loose ends floating along to create a wig. Maybe even an afro.
The writing style, though, was clear and fluid, and invited your mind into the perspective of the main character as she battles with the decisions of her future and past self, with just enough description to leave it easy reading and open to the imagination. It's alright for casual reading, I suppose, and entertains you well enough, but nothing outstanding that'll stay with me, that's for sure.
I think, in the end, the idea of the main character being in the wrong place at the wrong time and being framed for things that she didn't do without anyone believing her protests started to grow old, and other than these occasions, she didn't really have any struggles or tension. In fact, she just did whatever the hell she liked, and avoided fights like a pacifist as much as possible. So, by the end, my tension had completely petered out, and I think I missed the plot's climax somewhere along the line there.
Oh well.
It started off as gripping as the premise promised, with a girl taking the retribution for her sister's mistakes - sort of - and giving up her ideal lifestyle for a family that doesn't love her as much as they should. The old technique of flicking between the past and the present every chapter kept the reveal of the incident and trial itself interesting, but as things went on and new inmates and past associates were introduced... the character development began to fall short.
Plot devices that were set up usually followed through to some small extent, but in the end, everything started to feel a little pointless. And it didn't reach any sort of satisfying conclusion whatsoever, just sort of trailed off halfway through the ideal, with enough loose ends floating along to create a wig. Maybe even an afro.
The writing style, though, was clear and fluid, and invited your mind into the perspective of the main character as she battles with the decisions of her future and past self, with just enough description to leave it easy reading and open to the imagination. It's alright for casual reading, I suppose, and entertains you well enough, but nothing outstanding that'll stay with me, that's for sure.
I think, in the end, the idea of the main character being in the wrong place at the wrong time and being framed for things that she didn't do without anyone believing her protests started to grow old, and other than these occasions, she didn't really have any struggles or tension. In fact, she just did whatever the hell she liked, and avoided fights like a pacifist as much as possible. So, by the end, my tension had completely petered out, and I think I missed the plot's climax somewhere along the line there.
Oh well.
July 1, 2021
I've never been to Juvenile Detention or prison and despite working in the legal industry, I don't actually know anything about what it is like in "Juvie." Due to this lack of experience, I couldn't tell you if there was even a hint of realism in Watkins' portrayal of a Juvenile Detention Center. What I can tell you is that, for an author that has (likely) never been a teenage girl, Watkins is able to create a beautifully authentic and genuine character within Sadie. She is not perfect, she loves hard, and she makes mistakes. Due to the Juvie environment, the reader (along with Sadie) never really knows what is true and what is fiction which further supports the overall meaning of the work.
Generally I think it is difficult for authors to create multiple characters with real depth, but I think Watkins has achieved that here. Even the characters we never actually meet like Sadie's father and Granny have depth. The juxtaposition of Sadie's life leading up to incarceration and her life within the walls of the detention center keep the reader just a bit disoriented which I think really enhances the book as you are getting an inkling of what Sadie is experiencing.
Typically, I would not be a fan of the abrupt (and honestly, unresolved) ending of this book but I recognize that as a very intentional stylistic choice by the author. It brings the novel from being a quick read about a girl in Juvie to a thought provoking piece of social commentary that leaves you thinking about the system and quality of life for incarcerated individuals. If there was no concern about Juvie, we wouldn't be wondering what happened to Sadie next.
Generally I think it is difficult for authors to create multiple characters with real depth, but I think Watkins has achieved that here. Even the characters we never actually meet like Sadie's father and Granny have depth. The juxtaposition of Sadie's life leading up to incarceration and her life within the walls of the detention center keep the reader just a bit disoriented which I think really enhances the book as you are getting an inkling of what Sadie is experiencing.
Typically, I would not be a fan of the abrupt (and honestly, unresolved) ending of this book but I recognize that as a very intentional stylistic choice by the author. It brings the novel from being a quick read about a girl in Juvie to a thought provoking piece of social commentary that leaves you thinking about the system and quality of life for incarcerated individuals. If there was no concern about Juvie, we wouldn't be wondering what happened to Sadie next.
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