In an environment where kindness equals weakness, how do those who care survive? A Tayshas Reading List Pick An  ALA-YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults Book   “Shawn Goodman takes us inside the gritty world of our juvenile justice system with the verve of a master storyteller.” —Jordan Sonnenblick, author of Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie   “A gripping story of a boy’s climb to manhood on his own terms.” —Paul Volponi, author of The Final Four   “The reader will be seized by [the boy’s] plight and his determination not only to survive, but to better himself.” —Todd Strasser, author of Give a Boy a Gun   “Kindness for Weakness is a daring, dazzling leap into the dark passage that is the journey to manhood.” —Paul Griffin, author of The Orange Houses   “Gripping action, gritty dialogue, vivid characters, and palpable tension permeate the brief chapters of James’s powerful, honest, compelling narrative.” —School Library Journal

Seventeen-year-old Shavonne has been in juvenile detention since the seventh grade. Mr. Delpopolo is the first counselor to treat her as an equal, and he helps her get to the bottom of her self-destructive behavior, her guilt about past actions, and her fears about leaving the Center when she turns eighteen. Shavonne tells him the truth about her crack-addicted mother, the child she had (and gave up to foster care) at fifteen, and the secret shame she feels about what she did to her younger brother after her mother abandoned them. Meanwhile, Shavonne''s mentally unstable roommate Cinda makes a rash move, and Shavonne''s quick thinking saves her life—and gives her the opportunity to get out of the Center if she behaves well. But Shavonne''s faith is tested when her new roommate, mentally retarded and pregnant Mary, is targeted by a guard as a means to get revenge on Shavonne. As freedom begins to look more and more likely, Shavonne begins to believe that maybe she, like the goslings recently hatched on the Center''s property, could have a future somewhere else—and she begins to feel something like hope.This is a brutally honest but hopeful story of finding yourself and moving beyond your past.From the Trade Paperback edition.

“Brimming with hard realities about the choices we make, the friendships we keep, and the unlikely allies we find along the way, this affecting novel helps to fill the gaping hole left by Walter Dean Myers’s passing.” —Booklist   “A taut, haunting tragedy.” —Kirkus Reviews   One young man searches for a place to call home in this gut-wrenching, honest novel from New York Times bestselling author Wes Moore and cowriter Shawn Goodman.   Elijah Thomas knows one thing better than anyone around him: basketball. But when a sinister street gang, Blood Street Nation, wants him and his team members to wear the Nation’s colors in the next big tournament, Elijah’s love of the game is soon thrown into jeopardy.   The boys gather their courage and take a stand against the gang, but at a terrible cost. Now Elijah must struggle to balance hope and fear, revenge and forgiveness, to save his neighborhood. For help, he turns to the most unlikely of friends: Banks, a gruff ex–military man, and his beautiful and ambitious daughter. Together, the three work on a plan to destroy Blood Street and rebuild the community they all call home.   This Way Home is a story about reclamation. It’s about taking a stand for what matters most, and the discovery that, in the end, hope, love, and courage are our most powerful weapons.  From the Hardcover edition.

Want to improve your relationship with your problematic parents? This honest and supportive guide, written by an experienced teen therapist, will help.This book is for you―not your parents. Step-by-step, using approaches that are relatively easy but bring big results, you’ll be guided in how to improve the important and super-challenging relationship between you and your parents. This doesn’t mean you’re going to become best friends, but you will learn the skills needed to change how you see one another and how you interact. And ultimately, you will gain control over your own life.Included are revealing descriptions of various problematic parenting styles, techniques—both verbal and not—for increasing the connection between you and your parents, advice about setting clear boundaries, and sample conversations that can be used as a script. Think of it as therapy in book form: on your side, encouraging and clear, and full of the time-proven advice you won’t get from your friends and certainly not from your parents.

In an environment where kindness equals weakness, how do those who care survive? A Tayshas Reading List Pick An  ALA-YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults Book   “Shawn Goodman takes us inside the gritty world of our juvenile justice system with the verve of a master storyteller.” —Jordan Sonnenblick, author of Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie   “A gripping story of a boy’s climb to manhood on his own terms.” —Paul Volponi, author of The Final Four   “The reader will be seized by [the boy’s] plight and his determination not only to survive, but to better himself.” —Todd Strasser, author of Give a Boy a Gun   “Kindness for Weakness is a daring, dazzling leap into the dark passage that is the journey to manhood.” —Paul Griffin, author of The Orange Houses   “Gripping action, gritty dialogue, vivid characters, and palpable tension permeate the brief chapters of James’s powerful, honest, compelling narrative.” —School Library Journal

Seventeen-year-old Shavonne has been in juvenile detention since the seventh grade. Mr. Delpopolo is the first counselor to treat her as an equal, and he helps her get to the bottom of her self-destructive behavior, her guilt about past actions, and her fears about leaving the Center when she turns eighteen. Shavonne tells him the truth about her crack-addicted mother, the child she had (and gave up to foster care) at fifteen, and the secret shame she feels about what she did to her younger brother after her mother abandoned them. Meanwhile, Shavonne''s mentally unstable roommate Cinda makes a rash move, and Shavonne''s quick thinking saves her life—and gives her the opportunity to get out of the Center if she behaves well. But Shavonne''s faith is tested when her new roommate, mentally retarded and pregnant Mary, is targeted by a guard as a means to get revenge on Shavonne. As freedom begins to look more and more likely, Shavonne begins to believe that maybe she, like the goslings recently hatched on the Center''s property, could have a future somewhere else—and she begins to feel something like hope.This is a brutally honest but hopeful story of finding yourself and moving beyond your past.From the Trade Paperback edition.

“Brimming with hard realities about the choices we make, the friendships we keep, and the unlikely allies we find along the way, this affecting novel helps to fill the gaping hole left by Walter Dean Myers’s passing.” —Booklist   “A taut, haunting tragedy.” —Kirkus Reviews   One young man searches for a place to call home in this gut-wrenching, honest novel from New York Times bestselling author Wes Moore and cowriter Shawn Goodman.   Elijah Thomas knows one thing better than anyone around him: basketball. But when a sinister street gang, Blood Street Nation, wants him and his team members to wear the Nation’s colors in the next big tournament, Elijah’s love of the game is soon thrown into jeopardy.   The boys gather their courage and take a stand against the gang, but at a terrible cost. Now Elijah must struggle to balance hope and fear, revenge and forgiveness, to save his neighborhood. For help, he turns to the most unlikely of friends: Banks, a gruff ex–military man, and his beautiful and ambitious daughter. Together, the three work on a plan to destroy Blood Street and rebuild the community they all call home.   This Way Home is a story about reclamation. It’s about taking a stand for what matters most, and the discovery that, in the end, hope, love, and courage are our most powerful weapons.  From the Hardcover edition.

Want to improve your relationship with your problematic parents? This honest and supportive guide, written by an experienced teen therapist, will help.This book is for you―not your parents. Step-by-step, using approaches that are relatively easy but bring big results, you’ll be guided in how to improve the important and super-challenging relationship between you and your parents. This doesn’t mean you’re going to become best friends, but you will learn the skills needed to change how you see one another and how you interact. And ultimately, you will gain control over your own life.Included are revealing descriptions of various problematic parenting styles, techniques—both verbal and not—for increasing the connection between you and your parents, advice about setting clear boundaries, and sample conversations that can be used as a script. Think of it as therapy in book form: on your side, encouraging and clear, and full of the time-proven advice you won’t get from your friends and certainly not from your parents.