The Bookshelf: March 31, 2016

Trib+Edu is joining with respected books authority Kirkus Reviews to bring you select reviews of books of note in the field of education. For more book reviews and recommendations, visit Kirkus.com.

A MURDER OVER A GIRL: Justice, Gender, Junior High

by Ken Corbett

A teenager’s murder raises issues of bullying and homophobia. In 2008, 14-year-old Brandon McInerney shot and killed his classmate Larry King in their junior high school English class. Psychologist Corbett, unsettled by the crime, decided to mount his own investigation into its causes and consequences. “What was on Brandon’s mind?” he asked. ... Brandon’s lawyers portrayed their client as an abused child (both parents were drug addicts) who had been taunted by Larry, an effeminate boy who was undergoing a gender transition. ... Corbett deems the crime murder, and he was troubled when a juror who concurred told him that the hate crime charge of homophobia had been barely discussed. … An emotionally resonant account of a real-life tragedy.

For the full review, visit kirkus.com.