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Most of us know juvenile criminals only from daily headlines, and the images are extreme and violent: predators and even "superpredators." Distorted and incomplete, these pictures shape the way Americans think and feel about city kids, poor kids, and children of color. "A Kind and Just Parent" gives us a transformative view of kids caught up in the justice system. William Ayers has spent five years as a teacher and observer in Chicago's Juvenile Court prison, the nation's first institution of juvenile justice and the largest, founded by legendary reformer Jane Addams to act as a "kind and just parent" for kids in need. Confused and confusing, today itepitomizes of the way American justice deals with children. Through Ayers's brilliant portraits, we see young people telling their stories, analyzing their situations, and thinking about their futures. His passionate arguments--about the media, neglect,rehabilitation, and more--ask us to compare the realities he shows with the images we have; the results are startling.

"A sympathetic, revealing portrait of young people caught up in the juvenile justice system, and a searing indictment of the society that has failed to nurture them....When Ayers allows the youths to speak for themselves, they emerge as vulnerable and likeable, despite their often heinous crimes. Their teachers too are, for the most part, caring, talented professionals who believe in their students' potential to turn their lives around. But the likelihood that few will do so is deeply unsettling. Likely to challenge many of our preconceptions, this is a graceful and passionate vision of the criminal justice system."

Studs Terkel

"William Ayers...joins a fine tradition of Chicago writers whose goal is to bring to life the complex people who inhabit myths conjured up by demagogues and the mass media."

Luis J. Rodriguez

A Kind and Just Parent: The Children of Juvenile Court: Search Results