“Books like Jean Trounstine’s Boy With A Knife are urgently needed. Through the gripping story of Karter Reed, Trounstine argues passionately that locking up youth in adult prisons is cruel but sadly not unusual punishment. Reed stands for all the kids whose lives have been stunted, if not broken, by the failed policies of ‘tough on crime,’ and he is one of the survivors.”

— Nell Bernstein, author of Burning Down the House: The End of Juvenile Prison and All Alone in the World: Children of the Incarcerated

“Boy With A Knife does for Karter Kane Reed what the media, policy makers, even advocates have failed to for decades — namely, tell the stories of those who have been imprisoned, how they got there, what happened to them, and even why. Jean Trounstine tells Karter’s story with warmth, with complexity, with nuance.”

— Nancy Gertner, former U.S. federal judge, named one of “The Most Influential Lawyers of the Past 25 Years” by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly

“With skillful storytelling and rigorous research, Jean Trounstine shows us in Boy With A Knife why young people engage in crime and violence, how we can create rehabilitation and redemption for those caught up in the system.”

— Piper Kerman, author of the New York Times bestselling Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison

“Boy with a Knife is a masterful narrative rooted in the tragedy of a life lost and another launched into a complex journey of transformation. A must read — a compelling story and a deep reflection for teachers and students, advocates and policy-makers, parents and youth on the meaning of justice.”

— Robert Kinscherff, PhD, JD., William James College, National Center for Mental Health and Juvenile Justice

“In this vivid account of how inhumane it is to act as if youths are adults when it comes to crime, Jean Trounstine has made the case: These laws and practices must end. Read this and take action. Anybody can change. Anybody can be saved.”

— Luis J. Rodriguez, author of Always Running, La Vida Loca, Gang Days in L.A. and Hearts & Hands: Creating Community in Violent Times

“What Jean Trounstine reveals in Boy With A Knife is partly what happens between the moment that two lives end and, much later, when one begins again. If there is a shadow that this book casts over readers, it is Karter’s regret. And in the end, that is the lesson worth remembering.”

— Reginald Dwayne Betts, author of Bastards of the Reagan Era and member of the Yale Law School class of 2016

“Gripping and important, Trounstine’s real-life account about a boy thrust into an adult prison unfolds in heart-shattering drama. Written with deep compassion and grace, Trounstine brilliantly proves that people can — and do change — and so, too, can the system.”

— Caroline Leavitt, New York Times bestselling author of Is This Tomorrow and Pictures of You

“Boy With A Knife is a devastatingly detailed indictment of a criminal justice system that routinely sends youth to adult jails and prisons, yet it’s a story infused with much needed hope. A must read for anyone interested in criminal justice reform.”

— TJ Parsell, author of Fish: A Memoir of a Boy in a Man’s Prison

“Jean Trounstine has opened a window into the disaster of American juvenile justice. Hands down this book is certain to be a top criminal justice read for 2016. Also certain is that Trounstine will leave her readers with deeply personal questions about how best to deal with juvenile justice.”

— Christopher Zoukis, award-winning incarcerated writer and author of College for Convicts: The Case for Higher Education in American Prisons

“Jean Trounstine has delivered a searing wake-up call about the need to reform and redeem our juvenile justice system. Sentencing children as adults is neither productive nor morally sound, and the tale of Karter Kane Reed exemplifies that truth.”

— Shon Hopwood, author of Law Man: My Story of Robbing Banks, Winning Supreme Court Cases, and Finding Redemption