With all of the knowledge of movie-making and YouTube-uploading that I gained by trial and error from the last Bookcast, this felt like a cinch! Just kidding…but it did feel much easier by comparison.
I read Shawn Goodman’s powerfully moving novel Something Like Hope. It focuses on the circumstances that have brought Shavonne, a 17-year-old girl embittered by years of pain and abuse, to a juvenile detention center and chronicles the conflicting feelings she has when faced with the chance to get her life back. I was deeply effected. Her story is not only heartbreaking, but is sadly very similar to the harsh reality some youth, both in Raleigh and across America, face. Goodman has worked for years as a school psychologist and an advocate for juvenile justice reform, and his background shows in the writing.
I didn’t summarize much of the plot in my Bookcast, but focused on how the story reminded me of one of my favorite poems.
It also reminded me that people who genuinely care and are willing to do whatever it takes to intervene can make a difference.
anniesland 