Raising Heaven

Locked Out #4

by Patrick Jones

Deja's mom has never been there when Deja needed her. She's lied, run off, and gotten into trouble with the law more times than anyone can count. She always promises to change―and always breaks those promises.

Now―seventeen years after Deja was born in prison―her mom is back behind bars and having another baby. Deja agrees to raise baby Heaven until her mother returns home. She's determined to give Heaven the loving family life Deja never had.

But being a substitute parent is harder than Deja expected. She'll need help from her friends, her grandmother, and even the mother she stopped trusting a long time ago. And she hopes that maybe―just maybe―she can keep her promises to Heaven.

87 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2015

About the author

Patrick Jones is the author of five realistic teen novels, most recently Stolen Car((Walker / Bloomsbury, 2008). His first young adult novel Things Change (Walker & Company, 2004) was named by the Young Adult Library Services Association as a best book for reluctant readers, and was runner-up in the Teen Buckeye Book Award selected by Ohio teens. His second novel Nailed was published by Walker / Bloomsbury in spring 2006 and was a runner-up for the Great Lake Book Award. His 2007 novel, Chasing Tail Lights, is nominated for the Minnesota Books Awards. His most recent (and last) professional publication is Connecting with Reluctant Readers (Neal-Schuman, 2006). In 2006, he won lifetime achievement awards from both the Catholic Library Association, and the American Library Association. Jones is a frequent speaker at library conferences, having visited all fifty states, as well as in Canada, Singapore, Australia, and New Zealand. Jones grew up in Flint, Michigan, but now lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Read more at his web page www.connectingya.com, including FAQs about Things Change and Nailed (perfect for book reports!). NOTE: After a bruising experience with another author, he's limited his reviews on Good Reads to only raves as not to disturb the "fellowship" of YA writers.

Reviews

[Sherri · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the fourth book in a new urban hi/lo series, Locked Out, that focuses on teens whose parents are incarcerated.

This book tells the story of 17-year-old Deja who was born in prison and grew up mainly with her grandma. Life has been tough for Deja with her mom never being around when she needed her. Deja’s mom has lied, run off, and broken the law more times than can be counted.

Yet when Deja’s mom ends up back in prison and pregnant, Deja wants to give her half-sister the life she never had and agrees to raise the baby for the first six months until her mom is released. However, Deja quickly realizes that taking care of a baby is harder than she thought and has to learn to let other people in her life help out--she can’t do it all herself.

Teens will like this series, especially reluctant readers, and enjoy that they can read the series in any order. Other books in the series have guys as the main characters.