Orange is the New Black by Piper Kerman

Yes, the hilarious Netflix original show is based off a memoir.

Piper Kerman had her “wildchild” phase of life right after college where she followed her drug-dealing girlfriend around the world.  Kerman left that lifestyle and settled in New York with her fiancé and thought that she abandoned all ties with that previous phase.

Ten years later she is sent to jail where she meets a handful of hilarious characters in her minimal security prison in Connecticut.  She is faced with the harsh and degrading “prison life”.

Kerman does an excellent job of describing her situation as well as giving the respect to her fellow inmates.  She describes how strong these women have to be when faced with their struggles including sexual assault from prison guards, furthering their education, and figuring out what to do when released from prison.  She forces the reader to think about the many faults that can be seen in the criminal justice system.  This memoir was informative as well as entertaining.

Age: There is some language so I would suggest to a more mature audience (upper high school)