Below are fiction books in our collection that relate to the criminal justice system. If you need help finding these books in the Learning Commons, please see Ms. Reishus, Mrs. Melbourne, or Mrs. McCullough at the circulation desk. You can also choose books that aren't on this list, but be sure to run it by Mr. Haskins.
To check books out in MackinVIA, log in with your regular school credentials:
Use your Virtual Student Library Card to check books out from Libby:
Punching the Air by
Even though Amal Shahid is an artist and poet, he's still viewed as disruptive and unmotivated at his diverse art school. One fateful night at a local park, a fight breaks out between Amal and his friends and a group of white boys from a nearby gentrified neighborhood, leaving one of the white boys in a coma. Amal is convicted of the attack and sent to prison, even though he's not the one who put the boy in a coma. His despair and rage at having his bright future destroyed threaten to overcome him until he discovers the refuge and hope that his words and art give him.
How It Went Down by
When sixteen-year-old Tariq Johnson is shot to death, his community is thrown into an uproar because Tariq was black and the shooter, Jack Franklin, is white, and in the aftermath everyone has something to say, but no two accounts of the events agree.
Read in:
Learning Commons | MackinVIA | Libby (3 copies) | Libby Audiobook (4 copies)
The Free by
Teenaged Isacc, who steals to give his younger sister the basic necessities that his alcoholic mother cannot provide, is sentenced to a juvenile detention center and during therapy sessions with fellow criminals, a repressed memory surfaces that changes everything.
Allegedly by
Mary Addison has spent the last six years of her life locked up in juvenile detention, convicted of killing a white baby who was left in the care of Mary's mother. Now fifteen, the African American teen finds herself pregnant and at risk of having her own child taken away. Desperate to keep her baby, Mary makes a startling confession--she did not kill the baby in her mother's care. But with a conviction hanging over her head, it might be hard to convince anyone she's telling the truth.
Kick by
Told in their separate voices, thirteen-year-old soccer star Kevin and police sergeant Brown, who knew his father, try to keep Kevin out of juvenile hall after he is arrested on very serious charges.
Nineteen Minutes by
The people of Sterling, New Hampshire, are forever changed after a shooting at the high school leaves ten people dead, and the judge presiding over the trial tries to remain unbiased, even though her daughter witnessed the events and was friends with the assailant.
Read in:
Learning Commons | Libby | Libby Audiobook (9 copies)
The Pact by
The Hartes and the Golds, long-time neighbors and friends, are not surprised when their children Chris and Emily fall in love, but the bond between the families is placed under an enormous strain when Emily is killed, leaving behind the question of whether her death was a suicide, or murder.
The Chamber by
In Mississippi in 1967 Klan member, Sam Cayhall is accused of bombing Marvin Kramer's law offices killing his two sons. In 1990 just weeks before his execution, a young lawyer asks to work on his case.
Read in:
Dear Martin by
Writing letters to the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., seventeen-year-old college-bound Justyce McAllister struggles to face the reality of race relations today and how they are shaping him.
Read here:
Learning Commons | MackinVIA | Libby (10 copies)
MackinVIA Audiobook | Libby Audiobook (13 copies)
Dear Justyce by
Incarcerated teen Quan Banks writes letters to Justyce McCallister, with whom he bonded years before over family issues, about his experiences in the American juvenile justice system.
Read in:
Learning Commons | MackinVIA | Libby (24 copies) | Libby Audiobook (18 copies)
All American Boys by
When sixteen-year-old Rashad is mistakenly accused of stealing, classmate Quinn witnesses his brutal beating at the hands of a police officer who happens to be the older brother of his best friend.
Read in:
Learning Commons | MackinVIA | Libby (19 available) | MackinVIA Audiobook | Libby Audiobook
Midwives by
Cut off from the hospital and rescue squad by an ice storm, midwife Sibyl Danforth makes the decision to perform a cesarean section on a patient she believes has died of a stroke during labor, but when her assistant tells police the mother was alive during the surgery, Sibyl and the entire community are drawn into a gripping trial.
Conviction by
Braden Raynor, the star pitcher for his high school baseball team, struggles with everything he holds to be true when his father, a popular Christian radio host, is arrested for killing a policeman in a hit-and-run accident. Now Braden's estranged brother Trey has returned home to take care of Braden in their father's absence. Braden must deal with his brother, his role in his father's trial, and an upcoming game which will pit him against the late officer's nephew.
The Silence of Murder by
Sixteen-year-old Hope must defend her developmentally disabled brother (who has not spoken a word since he was seven) when he is accused of murdering a beloved high school baseball coach.
Snow Falling on Cedars by
When a newspaper journalist covers the trial of a Japanese American accused of murder, he must come to terms with his own past.
Black and White by
Two star high school basketball players, one black and one white, experience the justice system differently after committing a crime together and getting caught.
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Juvie by
All Sadie wanted was to spare her older sister, Carla, and Carla's three-year-old daughter, from taking the blame for a gone-bad drug deal. Instead of the expected fine, or slap on the wrist, Sadie is sentenced to six months in juvenile detention, and her once stable and respected world comes crumbling down. Carla knows it is her fault, but Sadie doesn't know if she can ever forgive Carla for getting them mixed up in this mess in the first place.
The Juvie Three by
Gecko, Arjay, and Terence, all in trouble with the law, must find a way to keep their halfway house open in order to stay out of juvenile detention.
Monster by
While on trial as an accomplice to a murder, sixteen-year-old Steve Harmon records his experiences in prison and in the courtroom in the form of a film script as he tries to come to terms with the course his life has taken.
Rikers High by
Arrested on a minor offense, a New York City teenager attends high school in the jail facility on Rikers Island while waiting for his case to go to court.
The Hate U Give by
Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil (who was unarmed) at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed. Soon afterward, his death is a national headline.
Read Here:
Learning Commons | MackinVIA | Libby (14 copies) |
MackinVIA Audiobook | Libby Audiobook (85 copies)
Thousand Words by
Talked into sending a nude picture of herself to her boyfriend while she was drunk, Ashleigh became the center of a sexting scandal and is now in court-ordered community service, where she finds an unlikely ally, Mack.
Read in:
Learning Commons | Libby (4 copies)
Defending Jacob by
When his fourteen-year-old son is charged with the murder of a fellow student, assistant district attorney Andy Barber is torn between loyalty and justice as facts come to light thatlead him to question how well he knows his own son.
