Customer Reviews

Serving Time, Serving Others: Acts of Kindness by Inmates, Prison Staff, Victims, and Volunteers

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Serving Time, Serving Others is a heartwarming compilation of stories centered on the prison system. The stories are authored by inmates, volunteers and prison staff, and all of the stories will cause you to reevaluate any preconceived thoughts you may have on the prison system. The book will make you less judgmental and more judicious. Several stories, all of which were written by inmates, touched my heart as I read this book.
A Ten-Cent Pen by Matt Matteo: This story succinctly shows how an inmate can grow within the walls of his imprisonment.
An Unexpected Favor by William Ryan: An ex-inmate reveals the changes his incarceration wrought in small ways upon his life, exchanging the high with drugs for the high of helping others.
My Friend Sarama by George Toth: An inmate's view of how quickly we all judge others after the September 11th tragedy
The Angel Tree by Terrell L. Thomas: The real victims of an inmate's mistake are his own family, yet the compassion of volunteers renews his faith.
Hungry for Freedom by Shannon Grillo: All the things we take for granted by being free are emphasized by an inmate's brief thoughts of escape and realization that to heal her soul, she must pay her debt to society.

I recommend this book be read by anyone who works in a prison, who has a loved one incarcerated, or who may be in prison themselves. The stories will ease some positive into what may seem to be only a negative situation. This book will give you hope.

A Beautiful Book

"I loved `Serving Time, Serving Others.' It made me smile and cry at once. Thanks to Laura and Tom Lagana for producing this beautiful work. What an inspiration to read. I am the mother of a son serving life in High Desert State Prison. He was arrested a week after he turned 21 and is 28 now. After entering the nightmare of prison life, I didn't know people like those written about in this book existed. I really and truly needed to read this book. I can't wait to send it to my son.

"As one who has been invloved in prisoner outreach for more than 20 years, I can relate to the storeies in "Serving Time, Serving Others". This book helps the general public to understand that despite what they may have heard, not every prisoner is an unfeeling, bloodthirsty monster". ...

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I just started working as a Psychiatric Nurse in the prison system and it was nice to read about different experiences written by broad spectrum of those involved in the prison system.

When Tom and Laura Lagana came to me in 2003 about the possibility of compiling their inspirational prison stories, I had no idea that they would sell 30,000 copies within a three-year period. So many families are touched in one way or another by the correctons system, this little gem of a book is flying off the shelves and into eager hands.

Religion, science, and philosophy all generally agree that every human life is precious. "Serving Time, Serving Others..." can restore that sense of worth to those who've been judged worthless. I also recommend it for correctional workers who struggle against cynicism, and certainly for everyone outside the walls who continues to love someone who wears a number.

As author of Going Straight: An Ex-convict/Psychologist Tells Why and Howand Get It Right!I emphatically endorse this contribution from the Laganas!

Paul K. Fauteck, Psy.D.
Forensic psychologist and former prisoner.

Serving Time, Serving Others is one of the most inspiring and motivational books written for the entire prison community. A must read for those in service or ministry in prisons, and for inmates and their families. These stories will strongly resonate with those who have incarcerated loved ones, and will lend hope and significance to inmate readers. The heartfelt writing in the pages of this book will reveal an invisible world set apart, one that most have never seen. Many of the writers are inmates in this uniquely compiled book. They are the voices of the forgotten, that have been beautifully brought to life by Tom and Laura Lagana. Inmates once sentenced, disappear into a system that takes away their identity and sense of self. Individuality is replaced with a number, with little thought or respect to their humanity. In Serving Time, Serving Others, inmates and guest writer's share their experiences and shed light on prison life, hope for the future, and acceptance, not as an end, but rather a reformed new beginning. As Editor In Chief of Graffiti Magazine, a magazine written for the prison community, I highly recommend all of Tom and Laura Lagana's books, especially for those in service in our prisons.

This book inspires all. It is more than just a book about prisoners. It will touch your heart seeing all who are affected by corrections and those who find ways to do good in spite of the situation!
I Was I Am How To Move Beyond Your Past To Create An Extraordinary Life

Wonderful, heartwarming stories. Enjoyable reading. Makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside because you know that good, caring and kind people really do exist in this world of greed, hate, assumption and prejudice