Juvie Three (Revised)

Gecko Fosse drove the getaway car. Terence Florian ran with the worst gang in Chicago. Arjay Moran killed someone.

All three boys are serving time in juvenile detention centers until they get a second chance. Douglas Healy, a former juvenile delinquent himself, is running an experimental halfway house in New York City, where he wants to make a difference in the lives of kids like Gecko, Terence, and Arjay.

Things are going well until one night Healy is accidentally knocked unconscious while trying to break up a scuffle among the boys. Terrified of the consequences, they drop him off at a hospital and run away. When Healy wakes up, he has no memory of them or the halfway house. Afraid of being sent back to Juvie, the guys hatch a crazy scheme to continue on as if the group leader never left.

But if the boys are discovered, their second chance will be their last. . . .

An ALSCA Notable Book, 2009