Inside

by Julia Jarman

A young offender's experience from an award-winning writer for teenagers. At 17, Lee is inside for a crime he has committed. And he soon finds out that prison is not the holiday camp he's heard about. Warned to "play by the rules," he has to decide whose rules—the screws' or the other cons'. Life in a Young Offenders Institution is about survival. But the real struggle is inside Lee himself. Is he destined to be a "career con," or can he choose to change his life?

Genres: Young Adult

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Julia Jarman is a British author of books for children of all reading ages and ability.

Reviews

[Bev · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book for streetwise boys/girls who struggle with reading. Clear text and contemporary subject matter make it good for secondary age pupils.

[Alex Lobo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic read 👌

[S.C. Skillman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shocking, moving and compelling, this young adult novel tells of seventeen-year-old Lee who has just been incarcerated in a Young Offender's Institution for robbery and assault. I found it a stark and vivid account of the brutal nature of such an environment. J.A. Jarman describes the games played by "the cons" in their moral, emotional and physical manipulation of each other, as well as the often ineffectual "screws" who sometimes seem to exist in a different dimension hardly aware of, and ill-equipped to deal with, the grim reality of what is going on around them. Only the tragic death of an inmate's child provides the breakthrough into Lee's resolve to live a different life "outside", "not a scummy, grey little life....a manky, clanging-in-my-ears sort of life" but "a life full of colours."

[Marj Osborne · Rating 4 out of 5]

An unflinching look at life inside a British prison through the eyes of a first offender. This novel's highly engaging story together with its low level of language make it a great motivating read for reluctant on the edge boys Yr 9 - 11.

[Emma Christina · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting and emotional read.