True Notebooks

A Writer's Year at Juvenile Hall

By: Mark Salzman

Narrated by: Paul Boehmer

When Mark Salzman is invited to visit a writing class at Central Juvenile Hall, a lockup for Los Angeles’s most violent teenage offenders, he scrambles for a polite reason to decline. He goes—expecting the worst—and is so astonished by what he finds that he becomes a teacher there himself. True Notebooks is an account of Salzman’s first years teaching at Central. Through it, we come to know his students as he did: in their own words.

At times impossible and at times irresistible, they write with devastating clarity about their pasts, their fears, their confusions, their regrets, and their hopes. They write about what led them to crime and to gangs, about love for their mothers and anger toward their (mostly absent) fathers, about guilt for the pain they have caused, and about what it is like to be facing life in prison at the age of seventeen. Most of all, they write about trying to find some reason to believe in themselves—and others—in spite of all that has gone wrong.
Surprising, charming, upsetting, enlightening, and ultimately hopeful—driven by the insight and humor of Salzman’s voice and by the intelligence, candor, and strength of his students, whose writing appears throughout the book—True Notebooks is itself a reward of the self-expression Mark Salzman teaches: a revelatory meditation on the process, power, and meaning of writing.©2003 Mark Salzman; (P)2003 Books on Tape, Inc.

Critic reviews

“True Notebooks succeeds in adding something fresh, galvanizing and articulate to the overcrowded realm of classroom stories. A candid, involving teacher’s diary . . . Eloquent . . . Cogent, thoughtful and honest.”
–Janet Maslin, The New York Times (September 15, 2003)

“Wonderful . . . Even the manipulative kids Salzman introduces are stunningly human . . . Examines a broken system with grace, wit, and gripping storytelling.”
–John Green, Booklist (August 2003, starred and boxed review)

“[Salzman’s] account’s power comes from keeping its focus squarely on these boys, their writing and their coming-to-terms with the mess their lives had become.”
–Publishers Weekly, starred review (6/16/03)

“We get to see the kids he’s working with immediately, fairly, and without sentimentality . . .[Mark Salzman] steps aside and lets them speak.”
–Adrian Nicole LeBlanc, author of Random Family: Love, Drugs, Trouble, and Coming of Age in the Bronx

“I devoured this book . . . Insightful and poignant and funny . . . It’s all soft underbelly in these pages, human beings at their best against great odds, searching for redemption.”
–Sister Helen Prejean, CSJ, author of Dead Man Walking

“Strikingly candid . . . An unforgettable gallery of individuals whose efforts to articulate their condition and its causes are darkly illuminating–and heartbreaking.”
–Norman Rush, author of Mating and Mortals

Eye-opening

Salman's book will lay to rest the stereotypes you had of the young people in Juvenile Hall. Their stories, their lives are heart-breaking, yet Salzman is even-handed in his view, recognizing the reality of crimes they've commited. Narrator does a great job in creating the voices of the boys. A very worthwhile book. Kudos to Salzman for his work.

Unforgettable Journey

This is truly a remarkable audiobook. Written with a powerful style that truly makes you feel the author?s apprehensions and triumphs, frustrations and empathy. Throughout the book I was amazed that the author could bring forth all of these vivid experiences from memory. The author takes us into a world that few of us will ever experience in person. The reader, also, has a wonderful style that brings the characters to life without being overly dramatic. I enjoyed every minute of this book.

Amazing book & perfect for listening to

This is just a remarkable book, which will open your mind and leave you caring and wondering about people you probably never wanted to think about before. Salzmann knows how to put himself in the story just enough so that you relate to his struggles, and he does this with a lot of self-deprecating humor and honesty, but he also knows how to then get out of the way and let the stories and the voices of the incarcerated boys he worked with come through, in their own words -- which are sometimes just shiveringly eloquent. Because so much of the story revolves around language and writing and questions of 'voice,' and because the actor who reads the book does such a good job with these aspects of it, it is especially appropriate to *listen* to rather than read.

Wonderful book

Salzman explores the complexities of young men, albeit murderers, trying to find themselves through writing, though they are locked up with the key thrown away. The novel is often humorous and always sincere. The dialogue is not forced - it is natural, sometimes crude, sometimes disarmingly beautiful.

A wonderful journey through the lives of teens and the perils of a society that has given up on them.

Help can take many forms

Would you listen to True Notebooks again? Why?

May be. I liked the book which I listened to many years ago.

What was the most compelling aspect of this narrative?

I still recall one incident from the book where a juvenile criminal says the best thing that happened to him was going to McDonald's or Wendy's with his dad for ice cream once.

What about Paul Boehmer’s performance did you like?

good voice

Any additional comments?

It helps you to become a better person.