Maureen Stanton grew up in the town of Walpole, MA, home of the maximum corrections institution formerly called "Walpole Prison" and now renamed as Cedar Junction due to the association many made between the town and the prison. Maureen's mother used the prison as an example of where her 7 children would end up if they did not behave. Since 5 of those children were female, there is no way they'd serve time in that prison, but what do children know?

Maureen's drug use certain showed the prison threat meant nothing to her. The amount of drugs used was incredible to think she survived it all. I lived in the town of Walpole years after Maureen grew up and left the town and I never saw this drug use even though my children were teens at the time. A lot seems to come down to who your friends are and who those friends also associate with.

Her story is a scary one, but it also brought back memories of people mentioned in the story. I'm glad I read this. Thank you NetGalley for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Maureen Stanton's memoir <i>Body Leaping Backward: Memoir of a Delinquent Girlhood</i> is the story of the trials and tribulations of growing up in Walpole, Massachusetts in the 1970s.

Overall this is an engaging, well told memoir, with an amazing sense of place (as a person who grew up in Massachusetts, I especially appreciated the shout-out to Building 19!) Though, honestly, I expected this memoir to be a bit more dramatic, (see the author's addiction to Angel Dust, her short career as a petty criminal, the ever looming specter of Walpole Prison), it all just sort of washes over you like a drug-addled dream of the 1970s, with no real drama, no real consequences.

The most interesting facet of this book is the idea of a life lived in the shadow of Walpole prison. What does that mean for the identity of a town? For a young person? And while I appreciate Stanton's struggle, the fact that she was able to overcome so many obstacles and create a successful life for herself, it would have been nice to see a bit more awareness of the privilege that kept her out of the prison system.

On the whole, this was a really enjoyable read. Though I suspect it will resonate most with readers who have some knowledge of the area in the 1970s, I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys memoirs about delinquent girls, and their ability to rise from the ashes of their own destruction.

Maureen grew up as one of seven children in a prison town. Her parents divorced, causing her mother financial hardship, which lead to her shoplifting. A troubled teenager, Maureen fell into drugs and shoplifting herself.

Most of the book seemed to be one big brag session about what drugs Maureen did, what crimes she committed, and how she got away with it. I'm sure this wasn't the intent of the author but nonetheless, this is how it came across. Overall, this book was not for me.

A gut-wrenching look at the author’s descent into crime and drug abuse. It is beautifully written and tragic, yet hopeful nonetheless.