The Trial [Paperback]

Jen Bryant (Author)

Book Description

Release date: September 13, 2005 | Age Range: 8 and up

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.


From the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-8–Yet another novel-in-poems, this child's-eye view of the trial of the Lindbergh baby's supposed kidnapper/killer Bruno Hauptmann conveys the historical facts but only fitfully brings them to life. While the author casts the narrative of preteen Katie Flynn in blank verse, the setting, the heavy influx of reporters and celebrities, and the trial's participants are described in prosaic terms, and Katie often even leaves her personal reactions between the lines: "I expect my history teacher, Mr. Witkowski, will ask me/what I learned at the trial/about Law, about Criminals,/about our American Justice System./I expect he won't be happy/with my answers." Though Katie has done some growing up by the end, and subplots, including a pointedly parallel one involving a friend of Katie's who is unjustly accused of vandalism, add some immediacy, most of what readers will get from this story is reportage. Judith Edwards's The Lindbergh Baby Kidnapping in American History (Enslow, 2000) is just one of several recent nonfiction treatments of the same tragic incident that go into more detail.–John Peters, New York Public Library
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Gr. 5-9. "Nothing much happens but eggs, chickens, and Santa Claus," complains restless Katie Leigh Flynn about life in her small New Jersey town. But on March 1, 1932, something does happen--something sensational . . and tragic. The baby son of Colonel and Mrs. Charles Lindbergh is kidnapped in nearby Hopewell. Bruno Richard Hauptmann is arrested and put on trial for the crime--right there in Katie's hometown--and the 12-year-old finds herself caught up in the case as assistant to her journalist uncle. Readers see the famous trial through Katie's eyes as she records the events in unrhymed poems that have the terse rhythm of newspaper reports: "the sound of news / written down, sent out / on typewriters and telegraphs / from our little town." Katie realizes that someday she wants to make "that very same sound." 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 word important?" Bryant shows why with art and humanity. Michael Cart
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Age Range: 8 and up
  
• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Yearling; Reprint edition (September 13, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440419867
• ISBN-13: 978-0440419860
• Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 0.6 x 7.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #292,429 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jen Bryant writes picture books, novels and poems for readers of all ages. Her biographical picture book: A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams, illustrated by Melissa Sweet,received a Caldecott Honor award and her historical novel in verse Ringside 1925: Views from the Scopes Trial is an Oprah Recommended Book for ages 12 & up. Other titles include Pieces of Georgia (IRA Young Adult Choices Pick), The Trial (about the 1935 Lindbergh baby kidnapping trial), a 1960's-era novel Kaleidoscope Eyes (a Jr. Library Guild selection), Georgia's Bones, celebrating the creative vision of artist Georgia O'Keeffe, Music for the End of Time, based on a true story about WWII, and Abe's Fish: A Boyhood Tale of Abraham Lincoln.

Jen has taught writing and Children's Literature at West Chester University and Bryn Mawr College and gives lectures, workshops and school presentations throughout the year. She lives with her family in Chester County, PA.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars "THE BOOK, IT WILL NEVER CLOSE" May 17, 2004

By mcHaiku VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

It's not possible for me to be 'chatty' about this story. Jen Bryant writes in free verse about the year of the "Bruno Hauptmann Trial" ending in February 1935. When I read the story she has embroidered around this event my mind plays a newsreel of all the happenings of those three years following the kidnapping of Anne & Charles Lindbergh's baby son from their New Jersey home. Growing up in New York State the trauma of those times affected me deeply. 'Kidnap' was a scary word, a frightening thought. Men who found their way to our back steps asking to trade their labor for meals also seemed frightening.

How different from today was the media clamor then? The insatiable, dogged press? The celebrities coming to see and be seen? The pseudo souvenirs? The doubts? The inescapable and never-ending suffering of all involved? (The author tells us there are annual reinactments of The Trial even today). And more doubts? Hauptmann who went to the electric chair still claiming his innocence, is quoted as saying, "They think when I die, the case will die. They think it will be like a book I close. BUT THE BOOK, IT WILL NEVER CLOSE"

The author hopes the book will help readers "clarify their own concepts of truth and justice." In the Author's Note, Bryant writes "The economic realities of the Great Depression, the rise of the mass media, the country's fear of war and need for emotional escape, all combined to make the Flemington (NJ) trial a true national spectacle."

The graphics are appropriate and clever; the 'chapter headings' copy old Smith Corona type. 'Versified' stories happen to appeal to me; I hope they do not put off young people (especially boys) who could "osmose" some 1930s history as well as those concepts mentioned above....

Jen Bryant weaves stories into this sad history and has developed them against the backdrop of an ordinary town with characters that are likeable. Seventh-grader Katie Leigh Flynn, who acts as a pinch-hitting court stenographer for her temporarily disabled journalist uncle, has troubled moments, real for her age. She grows through the experience and there is a perspective shared in this retelling that offers some healing.

REVIEWER MCHAIKU suggests that "THE TRIAL" is good reading, and another 'Young Adult' book ripe for adult consumption. Read more ›

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars The Trial October 11, 2006

A Kid's Review

Format:Paperback

The Trial by Jennifer Bryant doesn't start out as much, but turns into a suspenceful mystery. It's about a girl that lives in a town where not much ever happens. It's set in the 1930s when the Lindbergh baby is kiddnaped. This book is about the trial of the Lindbergh baby through the eyes of this twelve year old girl. She is there at the trial to help her uncle who has broken his arm and can't report the trial. Katie is a very quiet girl whose life is changed by this trial. Another character is Bruno Richard Hauptmann who is accused of murdering and killing the Lindbergh baby. At first he doesn't sound like he could be a murderer, but later he leaves you puzzled.

My favorite scene is when they find Bruno Richard Hauptmann is found guilty. It suprised me because I felt like it came out of nowhere but at the same time I was expecting it. I felt sad knowing that someone was going to lose a husband and someone was losing a father, but I felt a little bit of joy for the family that lost their baby because of this man. Over all this was my absolute favorite scene because all at the same time I was feeling different emotions.

I think that this book was pretty easy to read but it wasn't so easy that I could read it in five minutes. I was a little disapointed because it was easy to read and I think that next time I want to pick a more challenging book. Something else I was disapointed about was what the story was about. I was expecting it to be more about the Lindberghs. Instead it was about a girl and her point of view of the trial. Even though it wasn't what I thought it was going to be I still loved the story.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars The Trial October 19, 2006

A Kid's Review

Format:Paperback

Katie Leigh Flynn lives in a small New Jersey town named Flemington. Nothing ever happens in this town. The town is so small that everybody knows everybody and there is only one school. She lives a couple of streets down from the famous aviator, Charles Lindbergh. He is an American hero because he was the first man to fly across the Atlantic Ocean alone. He was the bravest and greatest pilot in their state.

One night, something did happen though in this small town of Flemington. About 2 years ago, a man climbed up a ladder, snuck into the Lindbergh house and stole Charles Lindbergh's baby. After these 2 years, the police find and accuse Bruno Richard Hauptmann of this kidnapping. He will be tried in Flemington, even though he was found in Germany. He will be kept in a Flemington prison until found guilty by a court of law.

Katie Leigh Flynn's uncle is a reporter for a local newspaper. He breaks his writing arm, so he cannot write for a while. Still yet, the newspaper assigns him the job as the reporter of the Hauptmann case. He asks Katie's mom if he could get Katie out of school for a couple of weeks to go to the case with him to write down all the notes for her uncle. Her uncle offers to pay her, even though she is only 12 years old, full wages for helping him during the trial. Her mom says she can only do it if she saves all of the money for her college funds.

While Katie is at the case, she writes down almost every word that anybody says in the courtroom. The jury of the case consists of two farmers, one railroad man, four housewives, one insurance salesman, one educational advisor, one retired carpenter, one bookkeeper and one machinist. The case is so big that the people all around the world are coming to report about it.... In the case, the jury finds out that Hauptmann killed the Lindenbergh baby after he pulled it out of the window because he dropped the baby while climbing down the ladder. The jury finds the defendant guilty and he is summoned to death.

Flemington turned out to be a nice, quiet town a couple of months after the case. Katie only saved up two-thirds of the money for her college fund and saved the rest for a vacation for her mother behind her mother's back for her mother's birthday. Her mother appreciated that and took the trip, but in return, paid for the trip with her own money by putting it in the college fund. Katie learned that hard work is always the answer to success. She also found out what she would do for a living once she finished school. She, just like her uncle, would go on to become a newspaper reporter. Read more ›