Letters From the Inside Hope in the Journey Beyond Classroom and Cell

When Bronwyn Harris finally gets approval to visit her former third-grade student, Jorge, in prison, she doesn't know what to expect. After telling his story in her best-selling first book, Literally Unbelievable: Stories from an East Oakland Classroom, Harris worries that he will be upset or angered by her portrayal of him. Instead, in a captivating series of letters between a teacher and student, he shares incredible vulnerability while providing details of his life while growing up in East Oakland. Like many kids in the neighborhood, he joins a gang and, shortly after turning eighteen, is arrested for shooting at Oakland police officers in an episode of all-too-common street violence.As a grade-schooler, Jorge had asked, "How can I learn to be good?" And in prison, he commits himself to self-improvement. "I am going to change my life and that's the truth," he writes to Harris. "I want to become a better person and not just for me but for my family also. Because I got family that needs me to be out there."Letters From the Inside reveals a glimpse of prison life that's both tragic and mundane, as Jorge provides a raw glimpse of life behind bars in California. Because of the state's "gun enhancement" laws, he's locked up until 2030 but expresses amazing optimism even as he misses life milestones and the death of his mother. When I got locked up and sentenced to nineteen years, I felt as if my life was over. I didn't care about anything. During this time I lost my mother in a fire, so I was just hurt and going through a lot of pain. I was at the lowest point of my life. But after a few years of being incarcerated, I healed a bit from losing my mom and just told myself I was going to do everything and anything to come home and to better myself as a person. That's why I'm taking advantage of all the good things being offered to me right now.