Juvie - Tapa dura

In the midst of the terrible reality, realistically tiny glimmers of hope shine like candles fighting the darkness. A bleakly optimistic reminder to hold on to what is good.
--Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Watkins offers a frank view of life in a juvenile detention center... Little by little, a multi-dimensional portrait of Sadie emerges, exposing her vulnerabilities and struggles with the mistakes she's made... [A]bsorbing and wrenching.
--Publishers Weekly (starred review)

[T]eens, especially reluctant readers, will be drawn into the tension and action.
--School Library Journal

The truth of surviving juvie is told with unflinching honesty and may be an eye-opener to many readers. The subject matter should appeal to reluctant readers.
--VOYA

The point that not guilty doesn't mean innocent ... is subtly made, and readers may detect it through the overt story of Sadie as a strong and caring heroine making the best of a bad situation.
--Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

Paint[s] a picture of a life of a teenager who struggles to make good choices. In the end, a hopeful picture emerges for Sadie and her family. This book could fit well in hi/lo collections.
--Library Media Connection

Compelling... A haunting story of loyalty, regret, and the fervent hope for second chances.
--Booklist

Heart-wrenching and real, Juvie tells the story of two sisters grappling with accountability, sacrifice — and who will be there to help you 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?