Raw by Scott Monk, is about a young protagonist, sixteen year old Brett Dalton, who is sent to a youth rehabilitation center for juvenile delinquents after he is arrested for stealing from a bottle shop. Brett spends three months of his life at the institution where he is faced with different situations that affect his attitude towards his life. Brett experiences friendship, trust, love and lost at "the farm" and leaves a rehabilitated person then when he entered.
Brett doesn't coincide with traditional narrative characters. He doesn't come from a broken home, or has experience any emotional scarring event. As the title states, Brett is metaphorically "Raw". .
The characters of the text include Brett, who is the protagonist of the story, Sam who is the Director or caretaker of the institution, Frog and Josh who are friends with Brett in the institution and Caitlin who is Brett's "girl" at the farm.
The themes incorporated in this text are authority, community and friendship. The farm and the director, Sam, is a place where authority is present but not obvious to the inmates. The camp is run more like a strict school rather than a detention center. Thee are three rules that the entire camp must abide by, but with rules comes punishment. Because the detainees are young, the punishments are not as harsh but they are still effective to this particular group of kids. There are also "bonuses" to the children that receive if they abide by these rules such as excursions to the local town, Moree.
A sense of community is achieved at this institution through the minimal security of the camp and the togetherness of the detainees. The detainees" work hard like at a school to maintain the state of the farm and in doing so achieve a sense of belonging.
Friendship is present in this narrative as Brett, is required to make friends within the camp to be able to co-exist and survive the three months of solitude.
