House Arrest, by K. A. Holt

Aaaah, OBOB Season is fast approaching - finally! House Arrest is on this season's middle level list, and a book I have not read before. One of the regular's at the BMS Library checked this out late in the spring and really liked it (thanks, Maggie!) - recommending it to me and several other students over the course of several weeks! So when I was able to get my paws on a copy, I was excited to finally read this one!

Holt tells this story through a one-year series of journal entries, being written by the main character, Matthew, who is under house arrest for the year because he stole someone's wallet and used one of their credit cards. Stealing is wrong, and Matthew received one year of house arrest, weekly visits with his probation officer and a counselor, and was ordered to keep a journal of his "progress" throughout the year towards making better decisions and being remorseful for his actions. The reason he stole the wallet and used the credit card was to help pay for medicine for his baby brother who breathes and eats through a tracheal tube. Matthew's single mother is trying to keep up with bills and medicine but not doing as well as she would like. So, when he sees the opportunity to use someone else's money to help pay the high cost of medicine, he takes it. And the dilemma begins.

Is it wrong to steal money to help keep someone alive?

A good story, a lot of room for thoughtful discussion along the way. The style Holt chooses to tell this story seemed a little forced at times, but not too bad...maybe losing a "paw" for it, but still making this a book worth reading. Very realistic fiction, along the lines of The Honest Truth, perhaps, but with more believable outcomes and consequences. 4 paws.