Online book club to discuss ‘A Question of Freedom’

A coming-of-age story, with the unique twist that it is set in prison, is the January book for discussion by the Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing’s Online Book Club.

"A Question of Freedom" by R. Dwayne Betts is the story of Betts’ arrest at the age of 16, his term in prison, and his quest for identity.

Betts was a good student from a lower-middle-class family who, with a friend, carjacked a man in Virginia. As the crime unfolded, Betts, who had never held a gun before, ended up being charged with six felonies. He was incarcerated in some of the worst prisons in the state.

Utterly alone—and with the growing realization that he really is not going home any time soon—the author confronts profound questions about violence, freedom, race, the justice system – and how he ended up committing a crime.

The Baltimore Times calls “A Question of Freedom” "a must-read and should be required reading for all those young sons and grandsons and brothers and nephews and uncles who believe this can't happen to them; it can, even if they can't wrap their brains around such a concept."

The book will be discussed Jan. 25-29.

For more information about joining the Online Book Club, and the discussion, contact the Piper Center for Creative Writing, (480) 965-6018, or www.asu.edu/piper.