Jean Trounstine is the author of the highly praised
SHAKESPEARE BEHIND BARS: The Power of Drama in Women's Prison,
about her decade directing plays and teaching at Framingham Women's
Prison in Massachusetts. She has written numerous articles on
prison issues for Boston Magazine, the Boston Globe Magazine, and
other publications, and has been the subject of many articles,
radio broadcasts (NPR, The Connection) and TV shows (The Today
Show). She is involved in prison activism and speaks often on the
subject here and abroad.
"With skillful storytelling and rigorous research, Jean Trounstine
shows us in Boy With A Knife why young people engage in crime and
violence, how we can create rehabilitation and redemption for those
caught up in the system. This book shows why youth justice should
move to the top of our national priorities if we want safe and
equitable communities for all Americans."--Piper Kerman, author of
the New York Times bestselling Orange is the New Black: My Year in
a Women's Prison "Books like Jean Trounstine's Boy With A Knife are
urgently needed. Through the gripping story of Karter Reed,
Trounstine argues passionately that locking up youth in adult
prisons is cruel but sadly not unusual punishment. Reed stands for
all the kids whose lives have been stunted, if not broken, by the
failed policies of "tough on crime," and he is one of the
survivors. Through more than 100 letters, he taught her--and her
book teaches us--to demand a more just criminal justice
system."--Nell Bernstein, author of Burning Down the House: The End
of Juvenile Prison and All Alone in the World: Children of the
Incarcerated "This is Karter Reed's story. Reading it, you walk
away with how a boy with a knife becomes a man whose future and
past are hinged on the life that he has taken. The system is
horrific, but the system is just the backdrop. Because what Jean
Trounstine reveals in Boy With A Knife is partly what happens
between the moment that two lives end and, much later, when one
begins again. If there is a shadow that this book casts over
readers, it is Karter's regret. And in the end, that is the lesson
worth remembering."--Reginald Dwayne Betts, author of Bastards of
the Reagan Era "Boy With A Knife does for Karter Kane Reed what the
media, policy makers, even advocates have failed to for
decades--namely, tell the stories of those who have been
imprisoned, how they got there, what happened to them, and even
why. Jean Trounstine tells Karter's story with warmth, with
complexity, with nuance, framing a critical contemporary debate
with a very, very human face."--Nancy Gertner, former U.S. federal
judge, named one of "The Most Influential Lawyers of the Past 25
Years" by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly "Jean Trounstine has
delivered a searing wake-up call about the need to reform and
redeem our juvenile justice system. Sentencing children as adults
is neither productive nor morally sound, and the tale of Karter
Kane Reed exemplifies that truth."--Shon Hopwood, author of Law
Man: My Story of Robbing Banks, Winning Supreme Court Cases, and
Finding Redemption "Boy with a Knife is a masterful narrative
rooted in the tragedy of a life lost and another launched into a
complex journey of transformation. It is a must read for teachers
and students, advocates and policy-makers, parents and youth on the
meaning of justice."--Robert Kinscherff, National Center for Mental
Health and Juvenile Justice, and the Center for Law, Brain and
Behavior of Massachusetts General "In this vivid account of how
inhumane it is to act as if youths are adults when it comes to
crime (although hardly in anything else), Jean Trounstine has made
the case: These laws and practices must end. With meticulous
research, Trounstine mirrors what I've seen in U.S. prisons for
over 35 years as a speaker and workshop facilitator, when I also
witnessed the increasing number of troubled youth being thrown
away, abused, and in too many cases, prepared as higher-end
criminals, all at taxpayers' expense. Read this and take action.
Anybody can change. Anybody can be saved. It's time our laws and
justice systems aligned to this moral and biological fact."--Luis
J. Rodriguez, author of Always Running, La Vida Loca, Gang Days in
L.A. and Hearts & Hands: Creating Community in Violent Times.
"Gripping and important, Trounstine's real-life account about a boy
thrust into an adult prison unfolds in heart-shattering drama.
Written with deep compassion and grace, Trounstine brilliantly
proves that people can--and do--changeand so, too, can the system.
A must-read for anyone who cares about justice and forgiveness--and
that should be all of us."--Caroline Leavitt, New York Times
bestselling author of Is This Tomorrow and Pictures of You "Boy
With A Knife is a devastatingly detailed indictment of a criminal
justice system that routinely sends youth to adult jails and
prisons, yet it's a story infused with much needed hope. A must
read for anyone interested in criminal justice reform."--TJ
Parsell, author of Fish: A Memoir of a Boy in a Man's Prison
"Through Boy With a Knife Jean Trounstine has opened a window into
the disaster of American juvenile justice. The story of Karter Kane
Reed serves not only as a cautionary tale of what can happen to
kids who commit serious crimes, but of how American juvenile
justice policies actually hamper rehabilitation and the correction
of flawed character. Hands down this book is certain to be a top
criminal justice read for 2016. Also certain is that Trounstine
will leave her readers with deeply personal questions about how
best to deal with juvenile justice."--Chris Zoukis, award-winning
incarcerated writer and author of College for Convicts: The Case
for Higher Education in American Prisons.
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