Our newly expanded edition not only gives readers a glimpse into the lives of the women and girls whom our society incarcerates, but raises the most important questions confronting families faced with imprisonment, rupture of relationships, and closed doors. This groundbreaking collection includes 65 pages of narrative writing by adolescent girls (ages 16-21) and a section on writing for restorative justice.  Recommended reading for human rights and justice reform activists and for classes in criminology in high school and college including: Introduction; Theory; Delinquency; Gender and Crime; Corrections; Urban Crime; Crimes Against Children; Women's Studies, and Human Rights.

This publication features the stories of nine incarcerated adolescent girls, taking the reader deep into their lives. Published in partnership with the Raise the Age Campaign of the Correctional Association of NY's Juvenile Justice Project, it provides readers young and old with a compelling look at the need for to reexamine our criminal justice system, shedding light on the historical background that has caused New York to remain one of only two states that prosecutes, sentences and incarcerates 16 and 17-year olds as adults.

An ideal reader for course work in criminal justice, juvenile justice, women’s studies, crimes against children and human rights, and for neighborhood advocacy work, the book is designed as a tool to start a critical dialogue between educators, corrections officers, law enforcement, child welfare agencies, and advocates about the best ways to support children who become involved in  the justice system.

What is so important about maintaining ties with a parent behind bars? Isn't it better to keep a child away from prison or jail? These are the questions that come up far too often among those who are caring for the children who are left behind, be they kin care providers, social service workers or teachers  and social workers in schools.

This  volume allows ten of the 2.7 million children with incarcerated parents  living in the United States to answer these questions through stories  that the reader will never forget. In an era of broken families,  silence, stigma and shame around incarceration, affecting one generation after another, the voices of these young people give a resounding YES to the need for connection, breaking out of the stigma and silence, while proudly and hopefully speaking each young person's truth. They are a testimony to the strength of the human spirit, which cannot be broken, and an invitation to all of us to truly listen to the voices of this too often invisible population.

What happens when the grip of addiction is stronger than love?   Where does the heart travel?

I DREAM ABOUT YOU is a remarkable collection of 19 heart journeys, taking the reader through the tangled intersections of addiction, incarceration and family love. Seventeen were written by women and girls inside Suffolk County’s correctional facilities. Two were written by family members. As dreams of drugs forbidden in the life behind bars interweave with dreams of children lost and families abandoned, a full and important picture emerges, a testimony to the deep humanity that joins us, guiding us to look for new solutions in the field of addiction treatment and criminal justice reform.