Rating: 
Summary: More than a book about delinquents
Review: I don't know what made me pick up this book at the library and decide to take it home and read it. This book isn't a stale account of the struggles of condemned criminals or the failings of the justice system. It is about humanity within a world of inhumanity. It's a clear and simply stated depiction of the similarities of all people no matter where they grew up, what troubles they've had or what gang they were in. Everyone will identify with the boys described in the book and this shifts your view. We all just want peace, love, hope and for someone to say "you are special." Thanks Mark.
Rating: 
Summary: A favorite writer turns his gaze
Review: I have always loved Mark Salzman's writing; he brings a deep respect and appreciation of the humanity of his characters to the page. Maybe that sounds easy to do when you're writing about, say, the spiritual life of a cloistered nun, as he did in his recent novel "Lying Awake."In "True Notebooks," you might think he has taken on too big a task: he wants you to understand and appreciate the imprisoned Los Angeles teenagers he supervises in the "Inside Out Writers" program in LA Central jail. He does this by describing a year or more of biweekly readings of his jailhouse writers group. Inmates come, write, live out the details of their cases, and then, sadly, eventually disappear into the adult justice system. He doesn't sugarcoat or sentimentalize these kids' stories--he understands and acknowledges the pain their crimes have caused, and he writes about their victims too. But by doing such a marvelous job showing how his subjects grow and change through their experiences, he forces you to see them as real and human. You will be astonished and saddened by the quality of their writing, and hold your own children closer as a result.
Rating:
Summary: Genuinly Wonderful
Review: I heard about this book on Book TV one day. I decided to get it so I could familiarze myself with the juvenile hall world so little talked about. The book was incredible and read very easy. I was drawn in from the first page and loved to read about how each character developed through out the story. Mr. Salzman seems to be a very caring person who talks about his experiences with simplicity and honesty. The reality with which he describes each writing lesson is great and it was a wonderful insight into the world of these youngsters.
Thank you Mark Salzman for an honest and valuable piece of literature.
Rating:
Summary: A great read that will break your heart
Review: I love Mark Salzman. I've enjoyed all his books and a couple of readings. True Notebooks reads like a novel. A very compelling novel. While the author in no way beats us over the head with the tragedy of these lost and discarded kids, it is what we remember when the back cover closes on this book.
Rating:
Summary: An authentic portrayal of a troubling world
Review: I read about 50 books a year (as well as many periodicals) and this was one of the three or four best books I read in 2003. I thought it a great read, both compelling and gripping. It's poignant because of its relevance, but what I admire most is its frank ambivalence...the author's reluctance to get involved with the program at the start, his view of the kids as troubled but needy, and the way he exposes the strengths and weaknesses of the system without being overly judgemental. As he (and we) get to know the kids, it becomes obvious that they aren't all bad, and that many of them are truly suffering; but it's emblematic of the social problem he (and we) are confronting that perhaps the most promising, thoughtful, and "good" kid in the program is there because he murdered several other kids, at least one of them in cold blood. You feel genuinely sad when he receives his permanent sentence, but then again, it's almost impossible to disagree with the court's decision. I like and admire books that give me a glimpse into a reality I'll never experience myself, whether that world is the top of Mount Everest, or long ago in history, or, in this case, a juvenile prison writing program. This one feels authentic, very involving without being polemical. I found it genuinely moving, a splendid read. Highly recommended to all.
Rating:
Summary: Take it Down, Salzman
Review: I read constantly: biography, autobiography, history, geography, on-line, print, fiction, non-fiction. I often forget what I read the moment I close the book, sort of like brain candy. Mark Salzman's True Notebooks read like a thriller. I picked it up reluctantly (someone thought that as I teach writing, I would identify) and then could not put it down. Salzman stood back and allowed the story to tell itself. The boys he teaches become real, stepping out of the page and into the room and our dreams. They speak, think, and often write brilliantly. They interact with each other, at first in stereotypical ways, then quickly with caring beyond that exhibited by teens on the "outs." Then they vanish. One day they're in Salzman's class, beginning to open up, to tell their stories. The next day they are gone into adult prisons: these boys aged 14-17 when they committed their crimes. Salzman has the rare ability to write in the first person without aggrandizing himself. If anything, he downplays his own considerable charm (I learn he's charming by reading interviews and reviews after I finish the book, as well as once hearing an interview he did). Virtually all the boys he teaches are black, Hispanic, or Asian-American (and one Samoan--an incredible kid). The more trouble the kid has caused in the youth holding cages, the better (it seems) the boy does in class. A recent study, reported in the New York Times guest editorials of December 17, 2003, shows that adolescents under 17 are not yet "done" in terms of being able to see the consequences of actions, peer pressure, and thinking before they act. The boys in Salzman's book were only children; now they are tried as adults and locked up for life. Couldn't our intelligent wealthy society spare a little change to create highly structured youth centers for 187's (murderers, Salzman tells us)and NOT send these kids to prison with adult offenders? Why are all the locked up prisoners people of color? Why do they get the "crumbs" of the legal system rather than the "dream team," as one person says in True Notebooks? (I can vouch that poor people and people of color rarely meet their court-appointed attorneys until the day of the trial.) These boys have more wisdom than most people on the "outs," and our society flushes them away like discarded pages of a notebook. Mark Salzman is a genius. This is one of the best books I have ever read. I will be buying copies for everyone. I will be re-reading this book again and again, listening to these kids talk.
Rating: 
Summary: Did not like........
Review: I seem to be the only one that did not care for this book. (Although that made it easy for me to sell it on half.com).
I did not feel the caring and empathy of the author for the kids that I have in other books of this type that I have read, i.e. Torrey Hayden's books. Mary MacCracken, etc. Granted, these are two different types of kids. I just do not seem to care for his style of writing.
Rating:
Summary: A book for writers, readers, and humans
Review: I'll admit my expectations were not high when I began this book, but my interest in teaching writing to young people in all situations propelled me forward. I was expecting this to turn into some goopy do-gooder account of letting violent crime youth offenders get in touch with their warm and fuzzy feelings.
I was wrong.
Not wrong because these kids didn't use writing to explore their feelings but wrong because I had preconceptions about how these types of participative journalism/nonfiction accounts often play out. Salzman does something very artful and human with this work -- he gets out of the way and lets the story unfold through the words of the kids he teaches and the people who are charged with their care. It is not until the end that the author begins to explore his part in what is happening.
Salzman's handling of the final third of this book should be required study for any aspiring nonfiction author (or novelist for that matter). You may read it to admire his literary skill or you may simply read it to feel your heart pound a little harder as you appreciate the privilege it is to get to know some of the people in this book through the eyes of an artist.
Rating:
Summary: Salzman Asks Himself "Is It Worth It?" in True Notebooks
Review: In "True Notebooks", Mark Salzman brings the reader a panorama of drama, hopelessness, friendship, heartbreak, and humor. Salzman shares accounts of teaching a writing class to a group of young male juvenile offenders, all the while displaying no self-importance or conceit; instead, the author reveals his initial reluctance and opens himself up to vulnerability. Salzman even makes lists of why he should or should not take on the challenge, but finally his wife says, "You don't get out of the house enough."
Though told through the eyes of the author, the true stars of the story are the students, these juvenile murderers. Salzman steps back and allows the reader to enter the world of the juvenile detention system of Los Angeles. The reader finds that these punks are diamonds in the rough, many times producing prose and poetry with more meaning, emotion and beauty than many middle-class college students. Salzman humbly shares how he reached out to them by allowing them to freely express themselves on paper, trying hard to withhold judgement. The boys find hope as they write down their fears, regrets and memories, but all the while each one of them knows that eventually he will be sentenced to prison, perhaps for most of the remainder of his life.
Salzman constantly debates with himself: is this worth it? What is the point of befriending them, giving them hope, opening them up if they are simply going to go away to a prison? In the last few pages, the author shows why he eventually saw the good in teaching the class. Though it may be naïve, the reader can't help but wonder how many young people who are thinking of joining a gang would read this book and have second thoughts. The reader will finish "True Notebooks" and realize it is more than a story about a white man connecting with teen boys so unlike him: it is about the failure of society to provide families to children; it is about second chances; it is about the spark in the human spirit that never gives up.
Rating:
Summary: Few books have moved me to tears like this one.
Review: Mark Salzman deserves kudos for the honest portrait he has drawn of his time teaching creative writing to inmates in L.A. County's juvenile hall. What I appreciated most about the book is the way it exposes our country's failings toward at-risk youth without being preachy or overbearing. It presents individual situations and allows the reader to draw their own conclusions about what is wrong with the juvenile correction system in America. I am a voracious reader of both fiction and non-fiction, as well as an emotional person, but very, very few books have moved me to tears and laughter, sometimes within a few moments of each other. This one did: it reminded me of how important human connection is to each of us, as well as the power of caring to heal damaged souls. Mr. Salzman was clearly moved by his time with the kids in his class, and it shows in his spare, clean writing about his experiences, as well as his descriptions of the inmates' relationships and methods of communication and self-protection. Included are examples of the writing done by his students; some of them will make you laugh, and some will break your heart. I highly recommend this book.
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