From pranks gone wrong to sexual abuse and murder, these stories will motivate readers to reflect on their own lives. In one case, 14-year old twin girls rob a bank in a desperate bid to save the family home, while another tale tells of a mother who makes a horrifying decision for her pregnant daughter. These people share their personal trials and tragedies in the hopes that others can learn from their experiences. Includes a 16-page color photo insert.

Booktalking Nonfiction: 200 Sure-Fire Winners for Middle and High School Readers will provide an introduction to selecting and writing booktalks for nonfiction books with a focus on unique informational texts and biographies and autobiographies. A booktalk is a summary of a book presented in a way that would interest someone in reading the book described. Why non-fiction? Because the Common Core Standards Initiative, which most states have adopted, requires that 70% of the materials students read be from the category of informational texts it is especially important to focus on nonfiction when sharing books with students. Here’s everything you need to do just that. Chapters cover selecting, writing, preparing, and presenting booktalks, special tips for high-interest, low-level books, and using non-fiction in the library and the classroom. Two hundred ready-to-present booktalks arranged by genre are also included. Genres include animals, famous people, sports, crime and serial killers, movies and television, religion, war, history, and the supernatural.

Compiles and annotates YALSA's "Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults" and "Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers." Includes theme lists.

Drawing on media reports, interviews and court records, this book recounts the stories of women bank robbers in the United States, from the time of the Revolutionary War to the present. Ranging from sensational to poignant to comical, the heists of frontier outlaws, gun molls, insurrectionists, housewives, grandmas and young mothers "literally robbing for Pampers" are narrated as part of the social history of women in America.

Is urban gun violence an increasing part of juvenile crime? Do some juvenile detention centers rely too much on force? Is a life sentence without parole appropriate for juvenile offenders? Questions like these and more are answered in this book. Readers will learn about several aspects of juvenile crime from essay sources such as the Human Rights Watch.

The term "juvenile detention" is commonly used as a synonym for the incarceration of juvenile offenders, but in the legal system the term has a more specific meaning. Juveniles are "detained" immediately after being arrested; consequently, detention is the period of temporary custody before a court appearance. There are millions of children and teenagers "in the system" in the United States. Readers discover the variable structure of the juvenile justice system, referral and intake procedures, sentencing, detention and facilities, rehabilitation programs, and what happens after leaving a facility. A myths and facts sidebar allows readers to set aside common misunderstandings. Another sidebar provides the best questions to ask a legal expert when faced with juvenile detention as a reality. The final chapter investigates the overall effectiveness of juvenile detention and recidivism rates.

Follows the case of Christine Paolilla, who brutally murdered four people with the help of her boyfriend, who later committed suicide.