FIND A SAFE PLACE

by Alex & E. Kent Hayes Lazzarino ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 28, 1984

Despite the fuzzy underpinnings of this ""dramatization"" of the story of four chance reform-school boys (""actual case histories,"" supplemented by ""composites""), Lazzarino and Hayes offer an unusual closeup of the lives of children we throw in jail ""because they have no adults to care for them."" The scene is Clearwater [Nebraska] Boys' Industrial School, an institution designed for hard-core delinquents, where in 1963 there arrived: Matt, a 14-year-old Wyoming ranchhand's son, who got into minor trouble with the law after his father's death left him orphaned; John, a bright black teenager (""My mama left me, and the state figured I'd end up here sooner or later anyway, so they greased the skids and shipped me straight. It was all legal. . .""); Ralph, an obese 15-year-old mute who, for years, had been erroneously classified as profoundly retarded; and Tony, a streetwise black ten-year-old who had acted as mother's pimp. This unlikely group stuck together as friends: their ""determination to survive and capacity to adapt to a system that. . . rendered them helpless"" pulled them through. But not without some bad moments. Lazzarino and Hayes vividly depict the two systems of governance at Clearwater: the adult administration, generally well-intentioned but handicapped by inadequate funds or staff; and the small groups of inmates in each ""cottage"" who actually run the place with the administration's tacit consent. For a tough and very intelligent kid like Matt, there were only three options: release the pent-up rage (no outlet); go crazy; or begin to think you really are bad (so it's not an injustice to be in a place like Clearwater) and take over as one of the chief goons. Though tempted by the third option, Matt ultimately administered a savage beating to the head goon, two of whose teeth had to be removed surgically from Matt's knee. He and John were saved from sentences in an adult prison by an escape, arranged--hold your breath--by three of the Clearwater staff, who knew all along they didn't belong there and acted in accordance with ""bottom line standards of justice and human dignity."" In all, quite a story--told without the melodrama that could easily have sunk it.

Pub Date: May 28, 1984

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: McGraw-Hill

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1984

Categories: NONFICTION