First edition | |
| Author | Lyll Becerra de Jenkins |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Young adult novel |
| Published | 1988 (Dutton) |
| Publication place | USA |
| Media type | Print (hardback) |
| Pages | 199 |
| ISBN | 9780525672388 |
| OCLC | 16831389 |
The Honorable Prison is a 1988 young adult novel by Lyll Becerra de Jenkins. Based on de Jenkins' life, it tells the story of a young girl named Marta and her family who are placed under house arrest due to her newspaper editor father's criticism of a Latin American government. It won the 1989 Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction. [1] [2]
The Honorable Prison has been compared to The Diary of a Young Girl . [3]
Kirkus Reviews wrote "Not just another child-in-war novel, this first novel strikes a particularly contemporary note in its unsentimental portrayal of the abuses of power and of a family's attempt to remain intact in adversity.", [4] and Publishers Weekly called it "An eloquent first novel.". [5]
The Honorable Prison has also been reviewed by The New York Times , [6] School Library Journal , [7] and The Horn Book Magazine . [8]
It is a 1988 CCBC Choices book, [9] and won the 1989 Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction. [1] [2]
The language of the narrative crackles with sharp images and understated terror; the phrasing seems to be from another culture