Parents' Guide to Kindness for Weakness

Parents need to know that Kindness for Weakness starkly describes the cruel life inside a boys' prison in upstate New York, as witnessed by the psychologist-author while working in a juvenile "residential center." There's quite a bit of violence (a guard deliberately breaks a boy's arm, a boy nearly chokes another boy to death, a boy hangs himself), and strong language ("f--k-up," "a--hole," "s--t," "bitch," "p---y"). One character is frank about his sexual orientation, and gay and straight sex is referred to but not explicitly described. James is convicted for running crystal meth, and there are frequent references to pot/weed, but no descriptions of drug-taking. Young readers will root for 15-year-old James, who enters the prison skinny and naive and learns to hold his own. But the tone is pessimistic: The author gives none of the characters, including the guards, much chance of self-fulfillment. He concludes, "In the face of violence, showing kindness requires tremendous strength and is often punished severely."