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An Inmate's Daughter
On the first day of summer vacation between seventh and eighth grade, Jenna MacDonald does the dumbest thing ever. She jumps from the McNeil Island boat dock into the water to save a little girl from drowning. McNeil Island is a prison in the middle of Puget Sound. It's where Jenna's dad lives, and she is there with her mother, brother, and grandparents for a visit.
Her dad was recently transferred to the island, and Jenna, her mother and brother transferred too, to live with Jenna's grandparents. Jenna has been trying to join The Snoops, her school's in-group. They're racially mixed. She's part Native American. Though they're really looking for an Hispanic, they are evaluating her.
Jenna isn't permitted to tell her new friends that her dad is in prison. It's her mother's rule. Prison reflects on wives and children. Keeping the fact of prison secret becomes more difficult when the newspaper runs a story about a Good Samaritan rescue at the McNeil Island Corrections Center. No names are mentioned, but Jenna's mother is furious. Jenna stays out of her mother's way, and collects the news clippings about the incident. She writes in her journal about her wish to tell the truth.
Just as Jenna is forming a friendship with one of The Snoops, another learns about her dad and prison by snooping in Jenna's room. The group leaders vote to exclude Jenna, but the forming friendship survives, and a new one begins when the former boyfriend of a Snoops leader reveals his real dad is in prison too.
An Inmate's Daughter is a fictional account of the reality faced by over 2 million American children with a parent in prison or jail. The children are doing time too.
Her dad was recently transferred to the island, and Jenna, her mother and brother transferred too, to live with Jenna's grandparents. Jenna has been trying to join The Snoops, her school's in-group. They're racially mixed. She's part Native American. Though they're really looking for an Hispanic, they are evaluating her.
Jenna isn't permitted to tell her new friends that her dad is in prison. It's her mother's rule. Prison reflects on wives and children. Keeping the fact of prison secret becomes more difficult when the newspaper runs a story about a Good Samaritan rescue at the McNeil Island Corrections Center. No names are mentioned, but Jenna's mother is furious. Jenna stays out of her mother's way, and collects the news clippings about the incident. She writes in her journal about her wish to tell the truth.
Just as Jenna is forming a friendship with one of The Snoops, another learns about her dad and prison by snooping in Jenna's room. The group leaders vote to exclude Jenna, but the forming friendship survives, and a new one begins when the former boyfriend of a Snoops leader reveals his real dad is in prison too.
An Inmate's Daughter is a fictional account of the reality faced by over 2 million American children with a parent in prison or jail. The children are doing time too.
179 pages, Paperback
First published February 25, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 4, 2016
This offers a perspective I haven't seen in children's novels: the impact of incarcerated parents on their children. Not the strongest story.
Jenna's dad is serving prison time on McNeil Island for the crime of murder. Jenna's mother has a strict rule that no one in the family talk about their father being in prison, that people will look upon the family as criminals. Because of this rule, Jenna is afraid to make new friends in her grandparents' town where they've moved to be closer to McNeil. Currently, she and Andi are being "evaluated" for acceptance by the Snoops, an exclusive group of diverse girls who hang out together. If her potential friends ever found out about her father... Jenna finds it very difficult to maintain the family secret especially when she learns that Andi's dad is a police officer. She understands what her father means when he says prisoners are not the only ones serving time; so do their children.
Jenna's dad is serving prison time on McNeil Island for the crime of murder. Jenna's mother has a strict rule that no one in the family talk about their father being in prison, that people will look upon the family as criminals. Because of this rule, Jenna is afraid to make new friends in her grandparents' town where they've moved to be closer to McNeil. Currently, she and Andi are being "evaluated" for acceptance by the Snoops, an exclusive group of diverse girls who hang out together. If her potential friends ever found out about her father... Jenna finds it very difficult to maintain the family secret especially when she learns that Andi's dad is a police officer. She understands what her father means when he says prisoners are not the only ones serving time; so do their children.
January 25, 2017
This was a good book but it didn't really make me want to keep reading it because I wasn't interested after about 70 pages. I choose this book because my dad wanted me to read it. I would recommend this to another student because a lot of people go through what the girl did in the book. I think Jan walker wrote this book because she taught parenting and family classes to hundreds of men like Jenna's dad.
June 7, 2008
weak story, unbelievable characters, and very clumsy themes. it had potential and i DID finish it, but wish i could have back the time that it took, now.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews