I listened to this novel because it was provided by audiobooksync in the summer of 2021. I listened to it several months ago and have been on several trips, so be kind to any thoughts listed below. I'm trying to place myself in the book with my thoughts.

Van Trell Taylor, her mother, and a host of other people get on a van every Saturday to go to the prison a few hours away to visit loved ones. Trell's father, convicted of killing a young black girl in a gang gunfire incident, claims his innocence. The incident is infamous. Ruby Graham was sitting on a blue mailbox. Gangs were warring and the front line appeared where Ruby was sitting and she was killed. The prosecutor had evidence that a black man wearing a specific outfit killed Ruby. Romero Taylor, Trell's father, was seen in the vicinity and had the clothing on, so he didn't have a chance to defend himself. It was an open and shut case. Trell's mother, Shey, knows that Romero committed crimes, but he would never kill anyone. So, they visit every week so that father and daughter can have a relationship.

Van Trell believes her father is innocent. There's a new defense lawyer who has been helping other inmates. Romero hopes she will help him as well. Trell and her mother visit daily until Nora Walsh agrees to look into their case. Nora is pretty inexperienced, but she is stubborn, smart, and determined. Trell helps in her office and ends up helping with the investigation as well. She learns the mistakes that her dad made in the past that allowed him to be easily picked to be the "fall guy." Life gets dangerous, but Trell and Nora don't give up.

Overall, I enjoyed listening to the audio. I found Trell entering into dangerous situations that most parents wouldn't allow, meaning the author needed her to have this freedom away from the parent to demonstrate how a case comes together with evidence and the danger involved. Trell's maturity may come from being raised by a single parent and the reality of a father in prison. I enjoy investigations and suspense, so this novel suited me well. For middle school and high school students, the novel introduces the corruption that can exist in order to appease the public as well as how drugs and crime can seem an easy, and only, way to make money in some neighborhood cultures. You see the struggle of getting the justice system to spin and for those without money to get competent assistance. There's a lot of reality. With this reality, young adults can see that our choices matter and doing what's right can help another person. ( )

On a hot summer night in the late 1980s, in the Boston neighborhood of Roxbury, a fourteen-year-old African-American girl was sitting on a mailbox talking with her friends when she became the innocent victim of gang-related gunfire. Amid public outcry, an immediate manhunt was on to catch the murderer, and a young African-American man was quickly apprehended, charged, and — wrongly — convicted of the crime. Dick Lehr, a former reporter for the Boston Globe’s famous Spotlight Team who worked on this story three decades ago, brings the case to light once more with Trell, a page-turning novel about the daughter of the imprisoned man, who persuades a reporter and a lawyer to help her prove her father’s innocence. What pieces of evidence might have been overlooked? Can they manage to get to the truth before a dangerous character from the neighborhood gets to them? ( )

I raced right through this book yesterday. It was a fascinating take on a real crime. The author note at the end made me want to do some more research, and wondered how much of the fictional reporter character represented him. ( )

This YA novel is based on an actual event. A young girl was caught in a gunfire exchange and died as a result. The wrong person was convicted of the crime and was in prison when a newspaper reporter decided to write about the killing. He found compelling new evidence and was instrumental in solving the crime - correctly, this time.
It could have been a great book. Certainly all the elements of a good story were there. The author added a young girl, Trell, the daughter of the imprisoned man, to help the reporter look for evidence. This character was unbelievable and unreliable as the narrator. She was way too knowledgeable and sophisticated in talking about race, the police, and the legal system. Disappointing. ( )

The characterizations feel a bit forced, and I think the book suffers from having been written by someone outside the community. It probably also suffered in my mind from having read it right after [b:The Hate U Give|32075671|The Hate U Give|Angie Thomas|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1476284759s/32075671.jpg|49638190] -- some similar themes, but the difference in quality is vast. And dude, WHY did the middle-aged journalist need to show how he came out of his depression by getting together with the spunky young lawyer? That's not part of the historical story, and it's just tiresome -- both the need to couple someone up, and the age gap.

That said, it's a page-turning mystery about a subject that is far more common in kids' lives than it is in MG or YA novels. It's also short. I think it'll work well for some of my reluctant readers. ( )