Hard Time

by Julian F. Thompson

“When we’re born, we’re sentenced to, like, life. And some of us—I’d be a prime example—are made to do hard time."

So says Annie Ireland, sentenced to a life of trying to live up to her parents’ never-ending expectations. For a long time the only person she can count on for unconditional support is her best friend, Arby, known to the horror and delight of many as “The Roach Boy.”

And then Pantagruel Primo, Esquire, comes into Annie’s life, and just like that, she has another friend, this one ageless and with special powers—and not looking like himself (at all), at first.

Suddenly, as a result of a story she writes for English class, Annie and her friends find themselves sentenced to five days in the county jail and then to an indefinite stay at the Back to Basics Center, a wilderness school for “problem” kids.

After a series of comic misadventures they manage to escape its bizarre, unpleasant clutches, and Annie comes to realize she’s unique and strong and lovable, and that it doesn’t matter what some other people think.

Delightfully ridiculous (but also timely), part fantasy and part real life, Hard Time is a humorous, sophisticated tale about one girl’s struggle to be who she is rather than the person some adults keep wanting her to become.

Genres: Young Adult

256 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Annie Ireland has always tried to please her parents and do the right thing. Her only friend is Arby, short for Roach Boy, because of his part-time job. Then one night Annie's house catches fire and she meets Pantagruel Primo, Esa, a little person trapped in the body of her school doll for Life Strateges class, who saes her life. Things go downhill from there because of a story she wrote where a student kills a teacher. She does 5 days in prison and winds up at Back To Basics Center. Things can't get worse, until Primo disappears.

[Smileylover · Rating 4 out of 5]

When you start reading it you think its gonna be a typical teenage angsty type of book,. but it turns out to be a fantasy kind of nonsense, doesn't make sense book, but its so unexpected that its interesting.

[Maura]

i personally like books that are about a event or situation that can happen in real life...i mean a talking doll!!??...its not really something i consider worth reading.
But i want to give this book a try, am trying to read this book...for know its ok but it could be more "Down to Earth"

[G-phy · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was the only Julian F. Thompson they had at the library. I have been hoping to run into a copy of "The Grounding of Group 6" for years as I remember it tripping me out in junior high. "Hard Time" is just plain weird.

[Bri Hogue]

This book is about a troubled teen she thinks things before she knows what she's talking about! The only person to turn to is her best frind, Arby. This book is fun, and entertaining.