From Street Smart to School Smart: The Unmaking of the Sisters of the Streets

by David P. Sortino

Overview

This story about 17-year-old Jewels Odom and 13 other ex-teen prostitutes gives Jewels and her 13 "sisters" a pulpit to speak to other lost girls looking for an escape from what they call the “streets of hell.” What separates Jewels from her “street sisters” is her ability to survive and succeed -- actually going to college to return as a teacher at juvie. This story ends with a mixture of successes and failures, but as always, Jewels is the one who has the final say when she tries to connect with Maya Angelou, the famous poet, to be the graduation speaker.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781475861129
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	07/11/2021
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	224
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

David P. Sortino, PhD, has over 40 years of experience as a teacher, administrator, educational consultant and neuroscientist with at-risk youth. He is the former school principal with the Just Community Emancipation Program for ex-juvenile offenders at the Clark Academy. He obtained a PhD in clinical psychology and then worked at a north bay juvenile hall for four years as a moral development consultant, running groups and retraining staff about recent developmental theories, etc. He also taught several university courses in moral development and the life cycles.

Table of Contents

Author’s Note

Preface

Acknowledgements

Chapter One: The Worse Part of the Game

Chapter Two: Three Months Later

Chapter Three: A New Teacher Principal Man

Chapter Four: Used Desks

Chapter Five: Maya Angelou To the Rescue

Chapter Six: Constitution Convention

Chapter Seven: Go Easy on Dj?

Chapter Eight: Man, On the Floor

Chapter Nine: She Forgot Her Pot?

Chapter Ten: She Took-Off the Band-Aides

Chapter Eleven: When Art Therapy Becomes Talk Therapy

Chapter Twelve: Mr. Buddha Man on the Floor?

Chapter Thirteen: Playin’ the Dozins

Chapter Fourteen: This Couch Really Sucks

Chapter Fifteen: More Prunes

Chapter Sixteen: Little Brothers We Wish We Had

Chapter Seventeen: When You Don’t Have A Future?

Chapter Eighteen: Never A Time for Coke

Chapter Nineteen: Colonel Sanders and Road Warrior

Chapter Twenty: It Never Leaves You

Chapter Twenty- One: Sister of The Streets

Chapter Twenty-Two: His Sacred Cow

Chapter Twenty-Three: No Pussy Votes

Chapter Twenty- Four: Man, on the Sidewalk

Chapter Twenty- Five: Andrea

Chapter Twenty- Six: To Be A Snitch or Not To Be A Snitch

Chapter Twenty- Seven: Track Meet

Chapter Twenty- Eight: Top Dog or Shop Bully

Chapter Twenty- Nine: Can’t Always Run from Failure

Chapter Thirty: Go Easy on Dj Tests

Chapter Thirty- One I Know She Has Gone to Heaven

Chapter Thirty-Two: Pullin for Us to Succeed

Chapter Thirty-Three: Two Inches from The Gutter

Chapter Thirty- Four: The Real Game of Life Begins

Epilogue: The Circle of Life

Editorial Reviews

This excellent story about 14 ex-teenage prostitutes, drug dealers, and gang bangers provides a poignant description of how Sortino transformed the behaviors of at-risk teen girls while serving as the teacher and principal of a Northern California "just community" residential facility. The main character Jewels Odom offers an eyewitness account of her journey from her street smart to school smart experience with her 13 Clark Academy sisters. Moreover, this book addresses not only the journey of at-risk teen girls from juvenile hall to the Clark Academy; it also provides a voice for the 900,000 (USA) girls, ages ten and older, and 20 million worldwide who are forced into prostitution and sex trafficking. Finally, there have been many books written about at risk youth, but few have been able to truly capture the day-to-day trials and tribulations of at-risk teen girls who, regardless of all their personal challenges, pass the GED test and are able to move on from a life on the streets to becoming productive citizens. This is their story.

Dagmar Hoheneck-Smith