Doing Time by Rob Thomas is an unusual piece of adolescent literature that may
             be too controversial to study in a classroom. It is unusual in the way that each paragraph
             is its own story-line about a different student's experiences during community service
             hours. At first it is hard to pick up that the perspective has changed, but a few chapters
             in I realized that the first paragraph was a set up for the rest of them. I believe that this is
             a great book because of its true-to-life quality and excellent writing, but there are some
             topics, words, and situations that may cause it to be unfit to be taught in certain schools
             This book is a good example of adolescent literature because it addresses issues
             that are experienced by and pertinent to the age group (I am thinking high school juniors
             and seniors). Several of the Havighurst developmental tasks apply to the characters'
             situations. While some of the characters do not succeed in the task of acquiring more
             mature social skills, the goal of the project is to help the students mature while assuming
             membership in the community by performing their 200 hours community service projects.
             The characters deal with developing a personal ideology and ethical stance, which is
             highlighted by the individual characters' situations. The chapter "Extension Four" deals
             with preparing for sex and parenthood, and Grant (Ten Pins Down) deals with confronting
             the opposite sex and achieving a masculine sex role.
             Thomas succeeds because he not only creates a book that is developmentally
             appropriate, but he is correct in assessing the mind-sets and attitudes of high school
             seniors. Assigning this book to seniors may open some minds and cause students to think
             critically about how they would feel in the situations of the characters. Doing Time
             represents many situations, backgrounds, and perspectives. The reader experiences ...