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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"THE BOOK, IT WILL NEVER CLOSE", May 17, 2004
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.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
The Trial, October 19, 2006
A Kid's Review
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.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Trial, October 11, 2006
A Kid's Review
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.
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