Rating: 
Summary: A Major book about the "minors"
Review: The "minors" in the Juvenile Hall facility in Los Angeles are alive and jiving and writing their hearts out. Salzman describes his time teaching them writing or rather giving them the time and space to write what they can say to no one.
This book satisfies because it is embedded in the writer's life. He shares his own true reactions, his failures, his successes. He grows in understanding of his students and we grow along with him.
I visit this facilty weekly and Salzman has captured the boys there, the staff and even the physical surroundings perfectly. His work helped me to understand some of what I see.
Rating:
Summary: So Unfortunate, Yet So Real
Review: The book True Notebooks by author Mark Salzman was a book that was hard to put down once I started it. This was a great book about a writer (Salzman),who was hesitant to teach a writing class at a juvenile hall in California. This ended up being the best thing that happened to him, as well as the boys. What got to me was reading all of the writings those young murderers and robbers wrote. Reading about how they viewed the world around them; why they committed the crimes they did; and just how much of a struggle they had in general. It's sad to read about the events that took place in this book, because ther are so many Nathaniel's, Jimmy's, and Benny's (juveniles in the book) out roaming the streets today.I've never read one of Mark Salzman's other books, but I congratulate him on crossing that safety tape and being a true inspiration to those young boys. I almost forgot I was reading about criminals because there was so much more these boys had to offer.I enjoyed the way Salzman didn't try to sugarcoat anything and kept everything so real. True Notebooks is a great read!
Rating: 
Summary: THE TRUTH ABOUT JUVENILE DELINQUENTS
Review: The first book I read by this author, a few weeks ago, was Iron & Silk and it was wonderful. Now he has written something different, though still in the teaching vein. He lives in Los Angeles and a friend of his was teaching at the Central Juvenile Hall in L.A. on a volunteer basis and Mark became curious and eventually decided he too would teach...about writing. The youths were teenagers and many incarcerated awaiting trial for murder. This book lets the youth tell their stories in their own way and it is an eye opener. Mark is guiding all the way, but you discover what is under the veneer of braggadocio for these criminals-in-training. You also find out the importance of becoming involved to help these young people and the results of your concerns. Mark Salzman has found his calling in writing books as he puts you in his picture with telling results. Bravo, Mark !
Rating:
Summary: THE TRUTH ABOUT JUVENILE DELINQUENTS
Review: The first book I read by this author, a few weeks ago, was Iron & Silk and it was wonderful. Now he has written something different, though still in the teaching vein. He lives in Los Angeles and a friend of his was teaching at the Central Juvenile Hall in L.A. on a volunteer basis and Mark became curious and eventually decided he too would teach...about writing. The youths were teenagers and many incarcerated awaiting trial for murder. This book lets the youth tell their stories in their own way and it is an eye opener. Mark is guiding all the way, but you discover what is under the veneer of braggadocio for these criminals-in-training. You also find out the importance of becoming involved to help these young people and the results of your concerns. Mark Salzman has found his calling in writing books as he puts you in his picture with telling results. Bravo, Mark !
Rating:
Summary: True to Life
Review: This book succeeds in every way. The writing is strong, projecting the powerful voices of the author, as well as the teens who are profiled. The inmates' composition provides rare insight into their genuine feelings and vulnerabilities. All of them take responsibilities for their crimes and they have realistic views of their impending incarceration in adult state penitentiaries. True Notebooks introduces us to a group of young men from various backgrounds, who turned to hardcore gangs due to breakdowns in their primary families. For each of them, survival in their world is literally a life and death proposition. Their disposition in the juvenile facility reflects their live on the streets, where backing down or not seeking revenge is a sign of weakness and unacceptable by peers. Salzman pointed out that most of their names have not been changed. This book should be required reading in middle and high schools, and for everyone who works in criminal justice. One of the younger students in Mark's program poignantly describes through a few short phrases, the injustices not only of life, but our legal system as well: "...As I stepped out of the dugout I was stopped. "Good game, son,." Thanks, Dad. You're such a good dad when you're not beating me, is all that kept running through my adolescent mind." The dream my dad had for my life ended on June 27, 1997. It died with him. For the fourteen years prior to that, that was all I had lived for and his dream had become my dream. It was like I was living his life over again for him. But on that day the dream left both of us. Late that night I was arrested for murder."
Rating:
Summary: Kids who don't have it together can be helped!
Review: This is an insightful book into the world of lost kids under the age of 18. Providing a writing program where these kids express their rage is a step forward in healing them. My son is one of these kids, and he tells me that writing has helped him a lot. I understand what these kids are battling against and I highly recommend this book. I also suggest Optimal Thinking: How To Be Your Best Self. I gave Optimal Thinking to my son 5 months ago and it turned his thinking and life around. He says he is going to use Optimal Thinking to make the most of every moment in prison. My kid says he now has the confidence to make the best of his life.
Rating:
Summary: Reality Check
Review: True Notebooks is a wonderful story, delivering unexpected lessons about people and life in general. Mark Salzman is the instructor of an English class at Central Juvenile Hall in Los Angeles and finds it is a learning experience not only for his students, but for himself too. With each piece of writing shared comes a deeper understanding of the thoughts and emotions of the boys who typically would be seen as cold-hearted. This sensitivity reaches not only their teacher, but anyone reading the book as well. Mark Salzman goes beyond simply telling a story, and allows readers to feel connected to all of his students. This book is proof that willingness and an open mind will open doors and provide new insight to the world. True Notebooks is a great read that also serves as an important reality check.
Rating:
Summary: Reality Check
Review: True Notebooks is a wonderful story, delivering unexpected lessons about people and life in general. Mark Salzman is the instructor of an English class at Central Juvenile Hall in Los Angeles and finds it is a learning experience not only for his students, but for himself too. With each piece of writing shared comes a deeper understanding of the thoughts and emotions of the boys who typically would be seen as cold-hearted. This sensitivity reaches not only their teacher, but anyone reading the book as well. Mark Salzman goes beyond simply telling a story, and allows readers to feel connected to all of his students. This book is proof that willingness and an open mind will open doors and provide new insight to the world. True Notebooks is a great read that also serves as an important reality check.
Rating:
Summary: Writer's Block Can Make A Difference In Someone's Life
Review: TRUE NOTEBOOKS is author Mark Salzman's account of his teaching writing to juvenile offenders in a California youth detention facility. Salzman almost stumbles upon this volunteer opportunity due to a case of writer's block. In the late 1990's, Salzman was at work on a novel that included a juvenile offender and he wanted to make the character more life-like. Salzman hoped that watching a friend teach writing to young prisoners would help, so he went to observe a class. Before he knew it, he was recruited to start a class of his own. A strength of the book is that Salzman does not jump into the role of a social worker but rather remains a writer throughout the book. At times I was reminded of the writing of Jonathan Kozol. Like Kozol, Salzman brings the people in the book to life and the reader feels an instant connection with them. This includes not only the young offenders, but also the staff of the center, and two staff members he especially admired: Sr. Janet Harris and Mr. Sills. Yet the book is more than a piece of journalism or a stereotypical "year in the life of a juvenile detention facility." Salzman uses his gifts as a writer, gifts demonstrated in his fictional works, which enable the book to flow. Though the book could easily become too sentimental, Salzman steers clear of this temptation. He never has any illusions that he is changing the world, but he does realize that what he does touches young lives. He has sympathy for the young people he works with, but he also realizes that these are young men who have committed very serious crimes, and some of them would do the same thing again. In the end the reader has a better understanding of the way in which writing and sharing our writing can help us connect with our truer selves. Perhaps even more importantly, the book shows the difference we can make when we do reach out to others, knowing that the act of reaching out is what matters most. It will be easy for some people to push a book like this aside and dismiss it as a somewhat liberal, do-gooder tract, but hopefully this will not happen in too many cases. Teachers and youth workers will probably find this book fascinating. The book could also be a warning to writers who suffer from writer's block: beware-you never know what you could be getting yourself into when you research your works!
Rating:
Summary: Great read
Review: What a wonderful read! A writer with writer's block is asked to teach a writing school at a juvenile detention center. He accepts and this book describes his moments with the kids and their writing experiences. I picked up this book totally at random. The cover did not attract me, but the storyline sounded different. What a treat. The writing is breezy and honest, but the most interesting aspect is the author's view of the boys in his class. Or rather the sometimes surprisingly good writings included in the book, which were all done by the kids. I find it great interesting that the author actually made me like these kids. I, also forgot that they were (in most part) murderers. A great read. Please pick up this book - its well worth it.
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