“Last week I had the privilege of speaking to about 75 teens at the Gardner Betts Juvenile Detention Center. The kids - ages 12-17 - have a lot of time to read without the distraction of TV and video games and they were a great audience. One boy said, “My friend was dissing me for reading your book because it’s pink, but I told him ‘I don’t care! It’s about the mob and I like it!’” Another boy said, “Dude, just take off the cover. That’s what I did.” Devo Carpenter is the librarian who created this award winning program called 2nd chance Books and she is my new hero. The kids have great books to read because of her.”
“What a great experience! Amidst the craziness of our daily routines, it
felt really good to have the chance to (possibly? hopefully?) make a
positive impact on these girls' lives. And what sweet, interesting,
engaged girls they were. Visiting Gardner Betts was definitely one of
the most satisfying "author appearances" I’ve done!
” - Lauren Myracle
“Meeting the girls at Gardner Betts was one of the most gratifying author visits I’ve ever done; it gave me a new perspective on what it means to be a teen reader with challenges. Despite their difficult circumstances, the girls we met were incredibly gracious, engaged and interesting: great kids, and great readers. Devo and the staff could not be more accommodating and enthusiastic. I hope any author who has the opportunity to visit at Gardner Betts will take it.” - Rachel Cohn
Funded in whole or in part by a Loan Star Libraries Grant authorized by the Texas Legislature and awarded by the Texas State Library and Archives Commission to the Austin Public Library.
