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  • Published: 15 January 2006
  • ISBN: 9780440419860
  • Imprint: RHUS Children's Books
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 176
  • RRP: $16.99

The Trial




Bryant takes on the thrill and horror of the Lindbergh baby trial and weaves it into compelling fiction--in free verse. Good fit for American history curriculum, and the voice will appeal directly to middle graders. The author did assiduous research, including reviewing original trial transcripts. The hardcover made a splash in 2004 and was named a Book Sense 76 Selection, a Borders Original Voices Selection, and a Junior Library Guild Selection.

Imagine you are Bruno Richard Hauptmann, accused of murdering the son of the most famous man in America.

In a compelling, immediate voice, 12-year-old Katie Leigh Flynn takes us inside the courtroom of the most widely publicized criminal case of the 20th century: the kidnapping and murder of Charles Lindbergh’s baby son. And in doing so, she reveals the real-life figures of the trial—the accused, the lawyers, the grieving parents—and the many faces of justice.

  • Published: 15 January 2006
  • ISBN: 9780440419860
  • Imprint: RHUS Children's Books
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 176
  • RRP: $16.99

About the author

Jen Bryant

I went to Gettysburg College in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. I majored in French and minored in German and Secondary Education.
I live in northern Chester County, Pennsylvania, with my husband, Neil; my daughter, Leigh; and our energetic springer spaniel, Sam.

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Praise for The Trial

"Bryant does an extraordinary job of re-creating the Depression-era milieu during which the trial unfolded and, at the same time, conveying the gravity of an event that may have been a miscarriage of justice. As Katie says, 'When a man's on trial for his life/isn't every wordimportant?' Bryant shows why with art and humanity."--Booklist, Starred

"Bryant crafts a memorable heroine and unfolds a thought-provoking tale."--Publishers Weekly

"Contemporary readers have doubtless formed an opinion or two about celebrity trials in their own time, and this look at one of the first true American media circuses should load their plates with food for thought."--The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

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