Larry Dane Brimner

1931. Nine black teenagers were arrested as they traveled on a train through Scottsboro, Alabama after a fight; two white women then falsely accused them of rape. Such accusations in the Jim Crow south almost certainly meant death, either by a lynch mob or the electric chair. The Scottsboro boys found themselves facing one prejudiced trial after another, a racist legal system, all-white juries, and the death penalty. They spent years in Alabama's prison system, enduring inhumane conditions and torture. Brimner shows that the trials and the two Supreme Court verdicts they produced left a lasting imprint that continues to this day. -- adapted from jacket and perusal of book

The Trials of the Scottsboro Boys: Lies, Prejudice, and the Fourteenth Amendment

Accused!

Jeni Enjaian

I think part of what affected my opinion of this book was the Kindle format in which I read the book. Even with that, however, Brimner skated through so many names, throwing them at the readers with little backstory and even less reminders of their place in the story throughout the narrative. Since I did not have much context for this story - something I definitely want and need to rectify - I struggled to place all of the names. I know that the high schoolers intended to read this book would also struggle for much the same reason. Brimner moves entirely too quickly and at much too high of a surface level. Even though a lot happens, Brimner conveys almost none of it, as if he believes that a high schooler could not handle a 250 or 300 page book. Disappointing.

Accused! The Trials of the Scottsboro Boys: Lies, Prejudice, and the Fourteenth Amendment

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