Juvie, Steve Watkins
Juvie, Steve Watkins
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Juvie

Author: Steve Watkins

Narrator: Whitney Dykhouse

Unabridged: 7 hr 34 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 10/08/2013

Synopsis

Heart-wrenching and real, Juvie is the story of two sisters grappling with sacrifice, accountability—and who’ll be there to help you up after you take the fall.Sadie Windas has always been the responsible one — she’s the star player on her AAU basketball team, she gets good grades, she dates a cute soccer player, and she tries to help out at home. Not like her older sister, Carla, who leaves her three-year-old daughter, Lulu, with Aunt Sadie while she parties and gets high. But when both sisters are caught up in a drug deal — wrong place, wrong time — it falls to Sadie to confess to a crime she didn’t commit to keep Carla out of jail and Lulu out of foster care. Sadie is supposed to get off with a slap on the wrist, but somehow, impossibly, gets sentenced to six months in juvie. As life as Sadie knew it disappears beyond the stark bars of her cell, her anger — at her ex-boyfriend, at Carla, and at herself — fills the empty space left behind. Can Sadie forgive Carla for getting her mixed up in this mess? Can Carla straighten herself out to make a better life for Lulu, and for all of them? Can Sadie survive her time in juvie with her spirit intact?

About Steve Watkins

Steve Watkins is the author of the novels Down Sand Mountain, which won a Golden Kite Award, and What Comes After. He is also the author of a nonfiction book and short-story collection for adults and is the recipient of a Pushcart Prize. About Juvie, he says, “One of the few hopeful things about juvenile detention that I saw during my visits is all the reading that goes on there. No electronic devices are allowed, and there’s limited TV time and access to video games, but there’s a lot of reading. Ten hours a night is a long time alone in your cell. With a book, at least, you’re not quite as alone, and reading can take you to other, better worlds.” Steve Watkins is a retired professor of journalism, creative writing, and Vietnam War literature. He now spends his days teaching Ashtanga yoga, working with the child advocacy organization CASA, and writing books for young adults. He lives in Fredericksburg, Virginia, with his family.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Sarah on January 15, 2015

I REALLY enjoyed this book. It has a definite Orange is the New Black feeling about it, both the situation and the characters, and I loved all of the different characters and their relationships both in and outside of Juvie. How Sadie ended up in there was a little annoying for me because it's just......more

Goodreads review by Terry on November 22, 2013

Could have been great, but just turned out so-so. The first third really intrigued me, showing that going to lockup is a real experience, that one day a person is driving her motorcycle, and then later that day she's getting a red jump suit. Sadie has a fascinating, warm relationship with her three......more

Goodreads review by Roxanne on April 01, 2021

G BensonJuvie This book is about Sadie and Carla, two sisters who couldn’t be more different. Sadie is the narrator of this story. She is a serious, studious person. She’s a great basketball player, a reliable daughter and a devoted girlfriend. She even hopes to get a scholarship. Carla, on the other......more

Goodreads review by Brittany on June 12, 2017

This book was all too real for me, as I could see so many of my students in the same position as Sadie, taking the wrap for a sibling who has lost her way. This novel exposes the truth, that even good kids can go astray, for reasons that aren't even their fault. The book alternates between how Sadie......more

Goodreads review by Heather on April 15, 2014

This is such an important subject that needs more attention from both authors & readers. The storyline set in the Juvenile Detention Facility was often descriptive and compelling but veered off track on unrealistic events ex stopping prison escape Unfortunately the storyline flashbacks to life before......more

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