True Notebooks: A Writer's Year at Juvenile Hall

True Notebooks: A Writer's Year at Juvenile Hall is a 2003 nonfiction book by Mark Salzman. In the first three chapters, Salzman, currently writing his latest novel, and stuck, begins volunteering as a writing teacher at Central Juvenile Hall, in Los Angeles. Mark has little connection with the correctional system, and is ambivalent about taking on the role. The facility leaves a powerful impression on Mark; he decides that it might prove to be helpful research for his novel, but not until he reads one outstanding essay from Ruben, an HRO, or "high risk offender," does he commit to participating. When Mark begins the class, the majority of his students are HROs—that is, students awaiting trial or sentencing for violent crimes.

In Chapters 4 through 6, Mark settles into his course. Aside from Duane, another writer who introduced Mark to the program, and Sister Janet, a nun working at Central Juvenile Hall, few of the staff at the facility are convinced the program will be of much use to the students, most of whom will be found guilty and receive lengthy sentences. Some of these students include Kevin Jackson, Jimmy Wu, and Francisco Javier, all "high risk offenders."Mark makes a quick connection with these students, but initially the writing progress is slow, and inconsistent. However, Duane and Sister Janet encourage Mark to continue. Mark finds that his students soon respond more readily to the opportunity, and begin producing challenging—if not unrefined—writing of their own.

From Chapter 7 to Chapter 9, Mark gets to know the students better, and they begin to trust him more. While he expects a degree of adversity, and even tragedy, in the lives of his students, Mark is taken aback at just how prevalent these circumstances are among his students. One student, Nathaniel Hall, describes the class in his essay as "a close encounter of the criminal kind" (81). Although the class begins to consistently produce essays and poems of quality, the students are often distracted and restless; the cause for this, Mark finds, is twofold: the imminent legal peril of their trials and sentencings, and the plight of their families. For the students, loneliness and isolation are widespread.

Chapters 10-12 begin with the start of the holiday season, a difficult time for the inmates at Central Juvenile Hall. As Sister Janet explains, the separation from families puts tempers and nerves on edge; violence and disturbances are common during the holidays. The staff of Central Juvenile Hall plan an arts festival in order to give the students a chance to relax in a controlled environment. Mark's students approach this idea with enthusiasm, eager to show off their talent and work writing. The young inmates writing is well-received by the students, staff, and onlookers. Also, at the festival, members of the staff are invited to participate. Mark, once a serious cellist, plays a piece, which he explains reminds him of his late mother. The reaction is quite powerful.

Chapters 13-15 take place after the arts festival. While Mark becomes better known and appreciated throughout the facility for his cello performance, he begins to have more difficulty controlling his class. Squabbles between new students, and bullying, often derail his efforts to teach. New students Benny and Patrick are teased and picked on by the others. It becomes clear, emphasized through the staff, and even the students, that although Mark is able to emotionally connect with his students, and now has a sincere desire to help them, he is still naive enough to be taken advantage of. Mark is dismayed by this, but continues. As a result, the writing program becomes a more prominent aspect of life at Central Juvenile Hall, becoming a subject of its own programming. Although Mark's class behaves well, other students misbehave, casting an ambivalent light on the program as a whole.

Mark's own novel, which had until now been a minor part of True Notebooks, is an important subject of Chapters 16-18. Although Mark has finished his novel, he receives a negative response from his editor. His students leap to his defense. Although Mark explains the editor's job is to be critical, his students view her criticism as an attack on "their" teacher. However, after watching an interaction between Kevin Jackson and Mr. Sills, Mr. Sills says "You might think it was cruel of me just now, yelling at him like that, but it's exactly what he needs." (191). Mark takes this advice personally, and silently resolves to take a firmer hand. Jimmy, who has recently returned from isolation heavily medicated, learns he has received a fifteen-year sentence. Jimmy is despondent, but can at least express his emotion in writing, and receive support. Mark is frustrated at both how little his program can do for the boys and how little understanding seems to go into criminal sentencing for young offenders.

In the next three chapters, things further degrade in Mark's class. Sudden transfers and sentencings have created a high turnover. Since the writing festival, Mark's class has become more popular, but for mixed reasons: many students just want to use the time as a break from the normal routine. Often, they are disruptive, and the environment suffers. Mark is frustrated at first, but grows to take responsibility for his shortcomings. He is not an experienced teacher, and his own naivete at the ulterior motives of his students has consequences. Meanwhile, trial and sentencing loom for Kevin and Francisco. Although they try to remain positive, things look grim. Finally, two other new students—Duc and Jones—overcome initial shyness and awkwardness to become leaders in the classroom.

Chapters 22-24 contain many of the most difficult parts of the novel: while Mark has regained more control of his classroom and more students are making progress as writers, the class receives significant blows: Kevin and Francisco, two of Mark's original students, are convicted and sentenced to lengthy terms—more than twenty-five years. While Francisco is unable to come to his own graduation because of his imminent imprisonment, Mark goes to Kevin's trial. At Kevin's trial, Mark's opinion changes, and Mark is devastated. However, while Mark is upset over the treatment these students receive in the legal system, he also knows that their crimes have brought a tremendous amount of grief. Finally, Mark comes to terms with the fact that he has been lying to himself, and purposefully refusing to look into the nature of his students' crimes, in order to keep his judgment neutral.

In the final chapters of True Notebooks, Mark thinks back on his time at Central Juvenile Hall. He has resubmitted his novel, and his class is still going. In pondering the meaning of his experiences and its important themes, he considers the role of family—and its substitutes—have in these boys lives. In their writings, discussions of family, particularly fathers, are the most painful, yet are also the most poignant. As the students cycle in and out of the class, Mark expresses resignation at how little he is in control of his class, but reaffirms his resolve to take care of that. In becoming aware of this, he realizes that his work means much more to his students than he originally thought, and that the opportunity to express oneself openly and honestly, outside of the walls and divisions of the correctional system, is invaluable. Mark receives a letter from Kevin, who has recently begun his prison sentence. In the letter, Kevin writes, "I'll use this time to grow" (325).