Criminal Cases

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• Degrees of Guilt_ trilogy deals with the "accidental" overdose of a teen named Sammy James. Each book focuses on what happened from a different perspective as 3 teens who were close to him tell about THEIR part in what happened. The tie that binds the 3 books together is the trial of a local teacher about HIS possible role in the death. Each book has a different author and there is a website where you can read the testimony of each of the 3 main characters between books and, eventually, the verdict.
• Driver's Ed by Caroline B. Cooney (other culpable traffic accident death)
• Hope Was Here by Joan Bauer
• Izzy Willy Nilly by Cynthia Voight the girl loses her leg in a drunk driving accident and a trial does follow
• Monster by Walter Dean Myers (criminal trial)
• Nothing to Lose by Alex Flinn
• Peeling the Onion by Wendy Orr is about a girl severely injured by a drunk driver. Unfortunately, although a lot of attention is paid to the legal follow-ups, it takes place in Australia where the laws are much different.
• Shattering Glass leads up to murder as well but not as much in depth police work
• The Body of Christopher Creed by Carol Plum-ucci which dealt with a possible murder case.
• The Rag and Bone Shop by Cormier. Not so much a focus on the trial, but on the detective work (or lack thereof) that goes into investigating the case, and how personalities can color the investigation.
• The Trial by Jennifer Bryant
• Whirligig by Paul Fleischman (DUI defendant)

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