Themes: Realistic Fiction, Prison, Family, Friendship, Drugs, Teen, Young Adult, Chapter Book, Hi-Lo, Hi-Lo Books, Hi-Lo Solutions, High-Low Books, Hi-Low Books, ELL, EL, ESL, Struggling Learner, Struggling Reader, Special Education, SPED, Newcomers, Reading, Learning, Education, Educational, Educational Books. Friends and family can fail you, and you can fail yourself. Make just one bad decision and you can ruin your life. That's what I did. I caught my mom using heroin. My boyfriend dumped me. Burning with desperation, I agreed to Genie's plan to steal a car. Ended up at Buckeye Village—the Ohio correctional facility for girls. Hard-hitting, contemporary young adult fiction is not trendy–it's not dystopia. There are no vampires, no werewolves, no castles. It's real life. It's unflinching. Gravel Road highlights the talent of YA authors committed to creating realistic fiction with emotional authenticity. No topic is off-limits: suicide, homosexuality, drugs, rape, gangs, bullying. Teens live with this reality each day. And they find a way to survive. Each paperback book is 116 to 268 pages.