Serving Productive Time: Stories, Poems, and Tips to Inspire Positive Change from Inmates, Prison Staff, and Volunteers

I can not say enough about how wise this whole collaboration is of stories and poems from such diverse people. Talk about hitting hard in the heart! And for an older book, it is truly relevant still today. I wish every inmate could read this! I want to read more books of this caliber of wisdom. I welcome suggestions. Anyway, thanks to everyone who contributed to this book! I needed the hope! My son is INSIDE and I hope he reads the one I sent him and hope he has an open heart and channel to get the beautiful messages.

My son loved this book and even took the time to write some of the poems to send to his father and I. His words were 'it's a great book and I share many of the same feelings as the people who wrote the poems and stories'...... I have downloaded the kindle version since as the letters he wrote about the book were so heartfelt. It's a book worthy of reading and sending if you know of anyone that is incarcerated. The book speaks volumes.

I ordered this book last month for a prisoner in California, and he has already sent me a review of it. This is what he wrote: "I just finished reading 'Serving Productive Time' and the stories are inspiring - some of them are very much like things I could say about my own life and stirred emotions in me (yes, he cried!). At the end of each chapter there is a questionnaire/exercise that you can do, so the reader can interact with the book. The book is well-written and put together, and while it has a lot of Christian stories, there are also secular and other religious viewpoints acknowledged, so even a non-Christian could read the book without taking 'offense'. The book has contact information for most of the people who contributed stories to it, which is good, as even though some are in prison there are a few that I plan on contacting. Each chapter also has contact info for outreach programs (a few that I am also contacting) and short sections on topics such as 'selecting a college or university'. I enjoyed reading this, it was very uplifting and I recommend it for other prisoners that want idea's on how they can serve their time productively. I only wish I had more copies of it to share with other inmates - my copy is already being passed around!"

Interesting read. Enjoyed the uplifting stories and positive message from current and former inmates. Shows a light at the end of the tunnel.

This book was recommended by my partner in our local jail ministry. It helped to give me a better understanding of prison life and the challenges that inmates face. It had inspiring stories of people who used their time to make positive changes in their lives. It also had interactive sessions at the end of each chapter to help and encourage readers to apply the themes from each chapter to make changes to their lives.It included contact information for various programs mentioned such as kairos, proliteracy worldwide, etc.

MY GOD SON really enjoyed this book. He has been in jail over a year and a half and really thought it was good to read. A lot of inspiring stories in this book. He finished this book and now he is letting one of the Co" s read it.

I used to work in a Juvenile Correctional Facility. I bought this for the boys to read. We based assignments off this book. The boys came up with some great ideas of things they could work on while incarcerated and they seemed to enjoy reading the book.

I ordered this for my son who is incarcerated and I downloaded a copy to my Kindle. This book has helped me to understand things/feelings he is going through on the inside of the razor wire and allowing me to understand where I can better encourage him during our visitation time. I would recommend this book to anyone. We all need to understand others better and help where we can.