All Rise for the Honorable Perry T. Cook by Leslie Connor has a good chance of being my favorite book of the year - Top 5, for sure.
Perry was born and raised in Blue River Co-Educational Correctional Institute. His mother discovered she was pregnant after she was incarcerated. The warden had herself named as the foster parent in order to keep Perry and his mom together.
That's the thing about Blue River. Warden Daugherty believes in treating the residents fairly and with respect. The residents, most of them, return the respect and work together to overcome the flaws that landed them in jail.
Perry has attended public school his entire life. But when he enters middle school, someone decides he needs a "real" family. Finally "outside", Perry only wants to be back with his mother and his family at Blue River.
A school project on local history gives Perry a chance to get the whole story behind his mother's arrest and sentence. His research opens the eyes of at least one classmate.
When he suspects that someone who claims to be looking into his mother's case is talking through his hat, Perry devises a genius "trap".
I suggest that you locate your tissues before you get too far into this book. There are several moving melancholy scenes in here.
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