Summary Of No Matter How Loud I Shout

The book uncovers the harsh reality of our juvenile system in the 1990’s. The stories in this book seem unreal, but the sad thing is that every word that was written was a true story. No Matter How Loud I Shout covers seven kids’ stories of just one year of their life in the juvenile system, a deputy district attorney who wants justice for the victims, a judge who wants to scare these kids into doing good, and a sister who wants the best for these kids and to see them succeed. The juvenile justice system is so messed up that only three of the seven were saved, one did not get punished properly due to his age, and the rest were failed by the system and ended up where they never thought they would, prison. One of the success stories was Carla James. She was a fifteen-year-old girl that

She took a machete to her older sister’s head and missed several times. Tina, her older sister, got her younger sisters and darted to the bedroom with a phone (Humes 1996). Once the police showed up Keesha had the machete pointed to her chin ready to take her own life. One of the officers fired a stun gun. He missed twice, but the last shot hit Keesha and saved her life. Peggy Beckstrand, deputy District attorney, sent her to adult court, but later reversed her decision once Judge Dorn got to her (Humes, 1996). Keesha did get the help she need, but it could have ended her up in prison. These kids went through everything just to have someone tell them they will either end up in prison or the cemetery. Judge Dorn might have thought that would have helped, but it just made them feel worse about themselves. Those kids needed encouragement, love, and help. The end of the book focuses on the kids’ life after the decision is made in court. The juvenile justice system was supposed to save all of them or at least try. The system only saved three, proved itself incapable before one killer, and gave up on the