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School Library Journal
Reviewed on August 1, 2014 | Grades 5 and Up
Gr 5–8—This book takes a look at the evolution of the American justice system. Kanefield scrutinizes the judicial system by examining current and past crimes. The book opens by defining the word "criminalize" (as "an act that the law makes punishable") and goes on to argue that the American judicial system is flawed. The author offers both famous cases, such as P...Log In or Sign Up to Read More
Horn Book Magazine
Reviewed on November 1, 2014
Kanefield writes about the American criminal justice system using a series of case studies, a fresh approach that allows her to present issues to middle-grade students in the same way that a lawyer or law student might learn about them. The book is divided into three parts, and the first section about deciding what behavior to criminalize is the most successful. The opening examples -- a man taking advantage of a bank teller's mistake, a boy buying a b...Log In or Sign Up to Read More
Horn Book Guide
Reviewed on January 1, 2014
A series of case studies, the book's first section, about deciding what behavior to criminalize, is most successful; the second and th...Log In or Sign Up to Read More
Junior Library Guild
Reviewed on December 1, 2014
With this clear and compelling introduction to the U.S. criminal justice system, lawyer Teri Kanefield enables readers to form their own opinions about the field’s past, present, and future. Kanefield succinctly presents historically accepted ideas about broad topics (such as punishment and criminalized be...Log In or Sign Up to Read More