Set in the 1970's, Charlie has been locked up in Juvenile prison for the third time! He will be their until he turns 21 and he is currently only 19. Everything that could possibly go wrong in his life does. His best friend Angie is dead from a drug overdose and he can barely come to terms with the loss. His father now seems to have finally had enough of Charlies behaviour and his wild lifestyle. While incarcerated, Charlie receives a letter from a girl that he once considered to be a casual hook up. Val tells him that she is pregnant with his baby. Charlie is not happy with this news. Meanwhile the superintendent of the detention centre seems to be on a mission to try and make life very difficult for Charlie. Charlie is stuck in the detention centre with no means to try and solve any of his problems or being of help to anybody else.
Charlie begins to care about Val and his unborn child. He starts to look at his own behaviours and begins to start opening up.
I started this book by not really like Charlie due to his attitude. However I do relate closely to the wreckless behaviour Charlie was displaying and found that I could relate to Charlie the more the book went on.

Set in the seventies, this book is about Charlie, who is 19 yrs old and in Sockanosset, the juvenile detention center, for the third time!! And everything that could possibly go wrong in his life has gone wrong!
His best friend Angie, is dead of a drug overdose and he can barely come to terms with the loss. His father seems to have finally washed his hands off him and his wild lifestyle. Val, the girl he was seeing on and off for the last few weeks, is pregnant and she says the baby is his!
And the mean and frightening superintendent of the detention center seems to be on a special mission to make life very difficult for Charlie!

But Charlie is stuck in a detention center with no means of solving any of his own problems or being of any help to anybody else! When he finally works through his rage and anger, he discovers that a 'juvenile delinquent' is not what he wants to be! He wants to be a responsible adult and a better person than he has been so far!
But, at a place like Sockanosset, good intentions are not enough to guarantee that you can stay out of trouble or danger!

What I loved:- Most people take sensible, responsible decisions because they have been taught the difference between right and wrong, good and bad and more often than not, have an authority figure (parents or teacher) to guide them to do the right thing!
Now imagine a young person who has no stabilizing force or a guiding figure in his life - and all he has ever know is chaos and mayhem! When a person like that, discovers for himself the value of a good and responsible life, even if it is a difficult choice, it is an amazing journey to self discovery!
This is Charlie's story and I absolutely loved this emotional and sad and happy tale!

Extra Bytes:- Charlie's Story is Book 2 of The Pond series. Book 1 is titled Angie! I read Charlie's Story as a standalone and it wasn't difficult for me to follow the story. But in case you want to read things in order, Angie is Book 1.

Charlie is locked up in juvie on a 3rd strike. He will be there until he turns 21 - he is currently 19.

While incarcerated Charlie receives a letter from a girl that he considered to be a casual hook-up. Vall tells him that she is pregnant and that he is the father. He is NOT overjoyed at the news of course.

Without giving anything away, what follows is a story of Charlie's personal growth . He begins to care about Val and the child. he starts to look at his own behaviors, and to open up little by little.

I started the book not really liking Charlie, but finding it interesting enough to continue reading. As the book progressed, and Charlie grew, and the story took some unexpected turns, I really started liking Charlie and his story.

The story was gritty and dark., Even the happier parts had a dark, oppressive feel.

3.5 starts rounded to 3. Did I like this book? yes. Did I love it? No.

I do want to thank the author, the publisher and #netgalley for the ARC which did not impact my review.