Sixteen year old Steve awaits his trial for taking part in a robbery which ended in murder. While in jail, Steve records his experience in a screenplay format with occasional journal entries. There are many witness for and against Steve. In order to help his case, his attorneys encouraged him to distance himself from the 23 year old King who allegedly pulled the trigger and encouraged Steve to participate in the robbery. In the end, King was found guilty and Steve was found innocent. The ending of this novel really made me wonder. When the innocent verdict was given, his lawyer O'Brien turned away from him refusing to give him a triumphant hug. Why did she do this? I found myself replaying the events toward the end to try to figure out why she may have found him guilty. This would be a great discussion question for students in a class literature discussion. The author's style and word choice add to the mood and tone of the novel. In the journal writings, the short choppy sentences helped me share his emotion of fear and feeling overwhelmed. I could also sense his fear by the repetition of words. Throughout the book, he repeats words related to fear more than five times within one page of the novel.
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