A Refuge In Reading
Teen finds
enjoyment
and escape
in books
By Lori Russell
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M AY 2 0 1 1 Clothed in regulation orange jumpsuit and rubber
sandals, the teenage boy sits in a locked room head
bent over a paperback book. For these few minutes,
he seems to have escaped from the cinderblock walls
of the jail that make up his world, and the intercom
he uses to communicate with the adults who hold
the key to his coming and going.
Today, the words on the page transport him to the
Pacific Ocean, where he floats in an abandoned boat
with a Bengal tiger and the young protagonist in the
novel “The Life of Pi.”
In the nine months since he arrived at Northern
Oregon Regional Correctional Facilities in The
Dalles, Joseph—whose name has been changed to
protect his privacy—estimates he has read nearly
100 books.
He has explored the Mississippi River with a slave,
endured the relentless grit and hopelessness of the
Dust Bowl, and struggled to survive on a distant
planet and an Indian reservation.
“Reading lets me get out of my own head,” he
says. “I stop thinking about my own situation.”
Joseph developed an interest in reading for pleasure in the fourth grade when he discovered the
Goosebumps series by author R.L Stine. Later, he
began exploring the lives of others through biographies. As adolescence approached, the lure of books
paled as Joseph was introduced to other temptations.
His choices have earned him more than one stay
at NORCOR.
Phil Brady, who teaches at the jail, says a stay at
NORCOR provides teen offenders such as Joseph
with a break from negative outside influences, regular meals and a place where they can feel safe.
Some stay a week, others 30 days. A few, like
Joseph, serve longer sentences.
Northern Wasco PUD
Students attend school five days a week and—
thanks to a contract with the local school district—
can earn high school credit for their work.
Due to the ever-changing census at the jail, the
number of teens in Phil’s classroom varies from
eight to 28 on any given day.
“Reading stories helps the kids process their lives,”
says Phil, who includes several young adult novels
in his curriculum. “Native American authors are the
most fun for the students because they criticize culture from outside and underneath.”
Research shows language acquisition occurs when
a child is reading for pleasure. As nerves in the brain
are stimulated, new neural pathways develop.
Sadly, for many of Phil’s students, the only time
they pick up a book is in jail.
Joseph spends his free time after class and dinner reading in his room. As the number of titles
he completed grew, he created his own shelf in the
classroom to store them.
Several of the books Joseph lists as favorites feature an underdog character struggling with society
and his or her own demons—from the Depressionera classic “The Grapes of Wrath” by John Steinbeck
to contemporary novels about Native American
youths, “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time
Indian” and “The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint.”
He became intrigued with science fiction after
reading “Red Mars” and eventually tackled the classic science fiction series “Dune.”
Joseph says his interest in his Native American
ancestry was piqued while reading “Bury My Heart
at Wounded Knee,” which chronicles the plight of
the native people from the Long Walk of the Navajos
in 1860 to the massacre of Sioux men, women and
children at Wounded Knee in South Dakota 30 years
later. After reading the book, Joseph contacted his
mother and the two began to piece together the stories of their family, which includes members from
nine different tribes.
Joseph says reading has been both a pleasure and
a refuge while at NORCOR. When he received word
his grandmother had died, reading provided a distraction from his grief.
“I was reading the ‘Adventures of Huckleberry
Finn’ at the time,” he says. “They asked me if I
wanted to go outside to the courtyard, but I just
wanted to go to my room and read. I was at the part
where Huck dresses up as a girl and it was really
funny. I read a lot during that time.”
As other students at the jail learned of his interest
in reading, they began asking
him for recommendations.
Some were a great fit, others
were less appealing.
“A lot of people I told about
‘Life of Pi’ couldn’t get through
the first few pages,” he says.
“Steven King said to read
10 percent of a book before
deciding if it is worth reading
the whole thing. I tell them to
read at least the first 10 pages.”
Many of the books Joseph
reads were given to the jail
by The Friends of the Library
Reading provides an escape and enjoyment for a
for The Dalles-Wasco County
young man serving time for some bad choices.
Library. The group gives Phil
first pick of the volumes at its
book sales, and recently donated $500 toward the
purchase of new books.
Like many teens who arrive at the detention facility, Joseph had a history of poor attendance and
underachievement in high school.
At age 17, he needed four core classes and several
electives to graduate. Phil assured him that while
it would not be easy, the goal of earning his high
school diploma was achievable.
“I told him, this is not just a big deal for you, it’s
For an English project,
a big deal for me,” Phil says. “Research shows that
Joseph wrote reviews of
the biggest factor in determining whether a child
39 of the books he read.
will be a productive member of society or go the
His review of “The
Grapes of Wrath” states:
other direction and end up in jail is education. It is
“A person who would
the biggest determinant of future success. Everyone
like this story would be
has a right to an education in the U.S., regardless of
a person who knows
what it’s like to struggle
what they have done in the past.”
to survive. This book
Joseph took the challenge and earned credit for
tells how it was for a
Biology, English, Algebra I and II and Government.
family during the Great
For an English project, he wrote reviews of 39 books Depression in the
1930s. It takes you
he had read, photographed each of the covers and
through their tough
compiled them into a reader’s guide for young
times against discrimiadults. To pay forward some of the generosity shown nation and how they
to him, Joseph’s collection—complete with his hand- lived in little tent towns
because they had no
illustrated cover—will be donated to The Dalleshome.”
Wasco County Library as a resource for other teens.
In February, within days of his 18th birthday,
Joseph received his high school diploma. Shortly
thereafter, he was transferred to a correctional facility
for adults to serve the rest of his sentence. He hopes
to attend community college when he is released. 
To donate books to NORCOR, please contact the Friends of the
Library-The Dalles-Wasco County Library at (541) 296-2815.
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