House Arrest

by K.A. Holt

Libby audiobook 4 hours

read by Alex Kydd

Published: 2019

Genre: YA realistic fiction

 

"Timothy is on probation. It's a strange word - something that happens to other kids, to delinquents, not to kids like him. And yet, he is under house arrest for the next year. He must check in weekly with a probation officer and a therapist, and keep a journal for an entire year. And mostly, he has to stay out of trouble. But when he must take drastic measures to help his struggling family, staying out of trouble proves more difficult than Timothy ever thought it would be."

Oh. My. Word.

I love this book! It made me laugh and it made me cry. This would be a great title to recommend to kiddos who enjoy Sonnenblick's Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie. Timothy is a fantastic and relatable protagonist. When he is caught stealing a wallet to pay for his baby brother's really expensive medicine, he has to journal about his thoughts and feelings.

Those thoughts and feelings are held in fairly tightly at first (hello, 12 year old boy) but then he rages at the injustices in his life - mostly on behalf of his baby brother and his hard-working mother. What an incredible kid! 

His probation officer (James) and his therapist (Ms. Bainbridge) are also wonderful characters. This was a delightful, quick story.

<Above posted on 12.8.21. I relistened to it on 11.29.22 because I remembered enjoying it so much and I wanted an audiobook. Such a good story!>

Oh! There was a funny line when he called puking "shouting groceries." That tickled my funny bone.