My Story Starts Here: Voices of Young Offenders

Product Description

Jamar found refuge in a gang after leaving an abusive home where his mother stole from him. Fred was arrested for assault with a weapon, public intoxication and attacking his mother while on drugs. Jeremy first went to court at age fourteen (“Court gives you the feeling that you can never make up for what you did, that you’re just bad forever”) but now wears a Native Rights hat to remind him of his strong Métis heritage. Kate, charged with petty theft and assault, finally found a counselor who treated her like a person for the first time.
Many readers will recognize themselves, or someone they know, somewhere in these stories. Being lucky or unlucky after an incident of shoplifting, or the drug search at school, or hanging out with the wrong kids at the wrong time. The encounter with a mean cop, or a good one, that can change the trajectory of a kid’s life. Couch-surfing, or being shunted from one foster home to another. The effect of youth crime on families (the book includes the points of view of family members as well as “voices of experience” ― adults looking back at their own experiences as young offenders).
The kids in this book represent a range of socioeconomic backgrounds, genders, sexual orientations and ethnicities. Every story is different, but there are common threads ― loss of parenting, dislocation, poverty, truancy, addiction, discrimination.
Most of all, this book leaves readers asking the most pressing questions of all. Does it make sense to put kids in jail? Can’t we do better? Have we forgotten that we were once teens ourselves, feeling powerless to change our lives, confused about who we were and what we wanted, and quick to make a dumb move without a thought for the consequences?

Review

Praise for Deborah Ellis and My Story Starts Here:
The List, Toronto Public Library, 2020In the Margins Recommended Nonfiction List, 2020
“Young people of different genders, sexual orientations, and ethnicities share powerful stories of being incarcerated or homeless … poignant, hopeful, and rage-inducing.” — Booklist
“A worthy addition to a middle or high school library…” —School Library Journal
“The stories are compelling and dark … A powerful collection.” — Kirkus Reviews
Praise for Deborah Ellis and Looks Like Daylight:
“… [T]he interviews [are] often simultaneously heartbreaking and hopeful in the span of just a few pages … [Ellis’s] voice does not distract from the subjects, and both Ellis’s setup and the children’s knowledge make connections between current injustice and the violent legacies of colonialism and racism that prevent this from falling into the trap of sensationalism. Unflinching and informative, this volume will appeal to a broad range of readers, and it offers plenty of opportunities for incorporation of diverse viewpoints into curricula …” — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
“It’s heartening that so many of these young people are positive about their lives, no matter how troubled, and about their futures … Ellis’ book is an excellent opportunity for classroom discussion and individual, empathy-inducing reading.” — Booklist, starred review 
Praise for Deborah Ellis and Kids of Kabul:
“These speakers are not characters, functioning in a plot, but teens’ actual contemporaries, whose voices linger long after the reading.” — Booklist

Review

Praise for My Story Starts Here:“A worthy addition to a middle or high school library…” ― School Library Journal“The stories are compelling and dark … A powerful collection.” ― Kirkus Reviews“Young people of different genders, sexual orientations, and ethnicities share powerful stories of being incarcerated or homeless … poignant, hopeful, and rage-inducing.” ― Booklist
“… the interviews [are] often simultaneously heartbreaking and hopeful in the span of just a few pages … [Ellis’s] voice does not distract from the subjects, and both Ellis’s setup and the children’s knowledge make connections between current injustice and the viol