Rico Ambriz, a 15 year-old Chicano resident alien, gets sent to a probation camp for stealing a BMW. He jacked it so that he could get a tumor on his neck cut off for free at the L.A. County Hospital. The catch--his judge at juvie ordered him to do six months at a camp in Malibu, California. At first, Rico is a fool who tries to get over on his tough love P.O. He sneaks his homegirl into camp, grows weed, and gets high after he harvests it; fights in the kitchen, fakes a suicide, goes AWOL, and gets sent back to court. This is just the short list. As a result, he maxes out. Instead of six months, he does a year.

My novel is the first one to show a camp for juvenile offenders. I retired after working as a P.O. at a camp for hardcore juvenile offenders. This is a rare, hilarious, outrageous, and emotional picture of a camp for minors and the juvenile justice system. Almost everything in it is based on true incidents. I put that on everything I love.