Bad Kid

‘When I was thirteen I was sent away... Maybe dragged away is a better way to put it.’ A powerful and unflinching graphic memoir about what really happens inside America’s secretive ‘troubled teen’ correctional facilities—told from the inside with raw honesty and dark humor. Bad Kid tells the story of Sofia’s turbulent teenhood, including her experience of being taken away (‘kidnapped’) to a residential treatment centre aimed at ‘troubled teens’. Wise, funny, and heartbreaking all at once, it presents—in a series of flashbacks—the unforgettable portrait of life in a US 'teenage boot camp' and offers YA readers a glimpse into the harmful effects that labels can have on us. Powerfully told in black and white comic strips accented with vivid pops of red, Bad Kid is the coming-of-age story of Sofia’s late childhood, and how her once-happy relationship with her mother sours irreparably when she marries Sofia’s stepfather. It follows her early teenage rebellion years in which she meets Marigold—'AKA the coolest girl I’d ever met’—and together they set about finding themselves through the traditional teen pursuits of rule breaking, smoking, dodgy hook ups, and bright red booty shorts . . . until the day when she is bundled into a car by total strangers and driven 400 miles to a teenage correction camp based deep in the woodlands of Virginia, US . . . This powerful and challenging memoir covers themes and ideas that are universal to teenagers everywhere—being misunderstood, mis-labeled and rejected, and speaks to relationship and mental health issues experienced by teens today. A striking coming-of-age story for YA and adult readers alike, Bad Kid reminds us that no one is beyond redemption—and that reclaiming your story can be the most powerful act of all.