This urban fiction series features diverse characters and is set in cities around the US. Locked Out explores the complex ways that parental incarceration affects teens, from physical absence to family histories of crime to stigmas and emotional health.
Research has shown parental incarceration to be associated with poor academic achievement, involvement in delinquency and gang-related activities, violence, and eventually adult criminal behavior. These books offer accessible, relatable stories of teens dealing with the significant challenges that an estimated 1.7 million children of incarcerated parents in the US face.