Discovering Truth and Keeping Humor
It has been a long time since I’ve reviewed a book for young readers but Trial by Journal by Kate Klise is such a great find, I have to write about it. My youngest son introduced it to me. He is in third grade and although he has read the Harry Potter books, he is not into fantasy nor is he drawn to the sports novels put out a lot these days in an effort to draw boys into the world of reading. Trial by Journal caught his eye because of the clever-looking girl on the cover, scrawling in her journal. He also loves to write and draw in his journal. When he opened the book up and realized Lily Watson was writing about a murder trial in her journal, he became hooked. And guess what? So did I.
I was flabbergasted by the idea of a novel for ages 8 to 12 including the ideas of capital punishment, abduction and murder of a child, and animal abuse (yes, all these issues and more are present in Trial by Journal). Twelve-year old Perry Keet has disappeared and fellow zoo employee Bob White has confessed. Zoo owner Rhett Tyle is pushing for the death penalty and, given that he owns everyone in town, most of the population of Tyle County is also.
The hero of the book, Lily Watson, is called in to serve as her town’s first juvenile juror. She does a great job listening during the trial; an even better job tracking down the truth; and the best job ever turning the whole ordeal into a term paper, complete with journal entries, drawings, hidden notes, newspaper articles, and radio interviews.
I was a bit repelled by Lily’s early admission that the one who murders, “has to die. It’s only fair. Think how awful it must be for Perry’s mom and dad to know the man who killed their son is still alive. Even if you put him in jail, he could still escape…It’s just too dangerous to have someone that creepy and stinky on the loose.” But that is Klise’s brilliance in this book: instead of preaching to kids about big issues, she has written a novel that lets her characters evolve while exploring these big ideas. The truth behind Perry Keet’s disappearance slowly emerges, the dangers of capital punishment are alluded to, and happiness becomes possible all over again for Klise’s slew of interesting and engaging characters. Everyone except the bad guys, of course: they are properly dealt with and no one dies. Even the rats are saved!
This book is very funny (I loved the character’s names — Anna Conda, Golden Ray Treevor, Sy Meese, for example) and it is also serious in portraying the danger of taking people and things at face value, the importance of trusting yourself, and the satisfaction of treating others with respect, whether human or animal.
Boys and girls will enjoy reading Trial by Journal. Note to all parents: you will, too.
