Bad - (Aerial Fiction) by Jean Ferris (Paperback)

About the Book

Sixteen-year old Dallas is sentenced to the Girls' Rehabilitation Center for holding up a store at gunpoint--the ultimate episode in a petty-crime spree she had undertaken. Dallas may have been prematurely labeled as bad by her father, but she is clear about her own responsibility for her sentence and insightful about the low self-esteem she and so many of her fellow delinquents share. An ALA Best Book for Young Adults.

Book Synopsis

Inspired by the author's work in a girls' rehabilitation center.

Ray called it skating when we did the crazy things . . . Hot-wiring a fancy car for a joyride after midnight. Boosting stuff from stores . . .

Sixteen-year-old Dallas loves the rush, the excitement of "skating." But then she and her friends decide to rob a convenience store and it's Dallas who gets caught while the others get away. Since it is her first offense, she thinks her father will help her out - but when the judge says she can go home on probation her father says no, he can't control her. So the judge gives Dallas six months in the Girls' Rehabilitation Center. Once there, Dallas meets an assortment of "bad" girls, many of whom don't expect to change, and those who do often don't make it. How Dallas comes to terms with herself - both the bad and the good - makes for a heartfelt and insightful novel about troubled teenagers and the odds they face in trying to turn their lives around.

Review Quotes

"Dallas is sentenced to six months in the Girls' Rehabilitation Center when her father refuses the judge's offer to take her home on parole...Ferris researched her topic well and the authenticity she invests in the novel will draw in both avid and reluctant readers." --School Library Journal

About the Author

Jean Ferris is the author of many books, including Invincible Summer and All That Glitters, which were both ALA Best Books for Young Adults. She lives in Coronado, California.