The story takes place on 141st street, a jail and a courtroom, it is told from first and third point of view by Steve Harmon, a young African American teenager, currently in a filming class. Part of the story is told from Steve’s jail cell he talks about how much he hates life in prison, and how he thinks the trial is going. He is on trial against the prosecutor Sandra Petrocelli for robbing and murdering the store owner, Mr. Nesbitt, of a local convenient store, even though he was simply supposed to be a lookout for two teens named Richard “Bobo” Evans the boy who got the idea to rob the store and James King, the other African American teen on trial and the actual murderer of Mr. Nesbitt. Steve was supposed to walk in the store, check if anyone was in there and give Bobo and James a signal. He did not however and Bobo and James ran into the store thinking the coast was clear, and robbed the place, plus killing Mr. Nesbitt. Steve is proven not guilty at the end of the book with help from his lawyer Kathy O’Brian, and James King receives 25 years in prison.
I think one of the themes in the story could be race and justice system, Kathy O’Brian does admit because Steve is young and black it makes him “more likely” to have committed the crime in the eyes of the judge and the jury.
I didn't really like the story mainly because it doesn't relate to me and my life but I did learn a couple things from it, one being that race can affect whether or not the jury thinks you're guilty and I just don't think that's fair because when you are the making the decision whether or not someone is guilty all of your beliefs and biases follow in with that and that just doesn't seem right in my eyes.
The story takes place on 141st street, a jail and a courtroom, it is told from first and third point of view by Steve Harmon, a young African American teenager, currently in a filming class. Part of the story is told from Steve’s jail cell he talks about how much he hates life in prison, and how he thinks the trial is going. He is on trial against the prosecutor Sandra Petrocelli for robbing and murdering the store owner, Mr. Nesbitt, of a local convenient store, even though he was simply supposed to be a lookout for two teens named Richard “Bobo” Evans the boy who got the idea to rob the store and James King, the other African American teen on trial and the actual murderer of Mr. Nesbitt. Steve was supposed to walk in the store, check if anyone was in there and give Bobo and James a signal. He did not however and Bobo and James ran into the store thinking the coast was clear, and robbed the place, plus killing Mr. Nesbitt. Steve is proven not guilty at the end of the book with help from his lawyer Kathy O’Brian, and James King receives 25 years in prison.
I think one of the themes in the story could be race and justice system, Kathy O’Brian does admit because Steve is young and black it makes him “more likely” to have committed the crime in the eyes of the judge and the jury.
I didn't really like the story mainly because it doesn't relate to me and my life but I did learn a couple things from it, one being that race can affect whether or not the jury thinks you're guilty and I just don't think that's fair because when you are the making the decision whether or not someone is guilty all of your beliefs and biases follow in with that and that just doesn't seem right in my eyes.
Overall I give the book a 3 out of 5