'This book needs to be acknowledged as a potentially challenging and polarising read on a difficult subject. It is one that has attracted positive public acclaim, and rankled some others as well. It is a book that tells some hard truths, and risks saying some unsayable things. For those who are unaware of some of the significant issues on Palm Island and in youth detention, particularly as they pertain to Indigenous youth, this book is a must-read. For those who are members of this community, the narrative may be too close to home, and the risk of these hard truths being told in ways that point the blame too squarely at those involved, without appraising the larger structural complexities and social issues that are implicated, is perhaps too high.' (Introduction)
