Wronged, A Novel About a Boy, a Crime, and the System

Caton Hernandez has never felt so alone, and he’s used to being alone. His single mother is never around, and when she is, she’s either passed-out or strung-out. He tries to keep to himself in his neighborhood south of the high school where kids hang in groups just to survive and violence runs high. He knows he needs to stay out of trouble so hopefully he can get out one day.

Yet, somehow Caton’s managed to get caught up in a major mess and finds himself in the middle of a conflict between the local gangs. Two teens have been shot, one of them his girlfriend, and he and a couple of boys from his neighborhood have been arrested for the crime. He’s in deep, he’s alone, and he needs help.

But when the state sends him to the Juvenile Youth Correctional Center and the DA wants to push for a transfer to adult court, Caton quickly learns how fast others are to judge him solely on his home life, his mother, and the neighborhood he’s grown up in. He knows he can’t do this on his own, but will he be able to get others to listen in time? Or will Caton be forced to give up before having the chance to fight for his freedom? He believes. No, he knows he’s been wronged, but will anyone else believe him? Or is he in this alone?