| Contents |
Part one: Where is Bobby?. Wednesday, May 21, 1924 ; The longest night -- Part two: Boys will be boys. Nathan and Richard ; The superman and the master criminal ; Apart and together ; Planning the perfect crime -- Part three: Tracking the killers. Thursday, May 22, 1924 ; Search for the killers ; A murderer's theories, a coroner's inquest ; Saturday, May 24-Sunday, May 25, 1924 ; Interrogation ; Another day in custody -- Part four: Confessions. "I will tell you the real truth" ; Murderers' field trip ; "Impaling a beetle on a pin" ; Darrow for the defense ; Searching for insanity -- Part five: Courtroom battle. Surprise strategy ; A hot day in court ; Battles in and out of court ; New-school psychiatry takes the stand ; "The ageing lion" vs. "fighting Bob" ; Waiting ; "Nothing but the night" ; "Life in prison is just what you make it". |
| Abstract |
How did two teenagers brutally murder an innocent child ... and why? And how did their brilliant lawyer save them from the death penalty in 1920s Chicago? In 1924, eighteen-year-old college students Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb made a decision: they would commit the perfect crime by kidnapping and murdering a child they both knew. But they made one crucial error: as they were disposing of the body of young Bobby Franks, whom they had bludgeoned to death, Nathan's eyeglasses fell from his jacket pocket. Multi-award-winning author Candace Fleming depicts every twist and turn of this harrowing case--how two wealthy, brilliant young men planned and committed what became known as the crime of the century, how they were caught, why they confessed, and how the renowned criminal defense attorney Clarence Darrow enabled them to avoid the death penalty. |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references (pages 297-306) and index. |
| Interest age level |
Ages 12 and up |
| Interest grade level |
Grades 8 and up |
| Audience |
850 Lexile |
| Awards note | Horn Book Fanfare List, 2023. |
| Awards note | Booklist Editor's Choice/Books for Youth, 2022. |
| Awards note | School Library Journal Best Books, 2022. |
| Genre/form | Biographies. |
| Genre/form | Case studies. |
| Genre/form | History. |
| Genre/form | Juvenile works. |
| Genre/form | True crime stories. |
| Genre/form | Young adult nonfiction. |
| Genre/form | Case studies. |
| Genre/form | True crime stories. |
| LCCN | 2022286331 |
| ISBN | 9780593177426 (hardcover) |
| ISBN | 0593177428 (hardcover) |
| ISBN | 9780593177433 (lib. bdg.) |
| ISBN | 0593177436 (lib. bdg.) |
| ISBN | (eBook) |
| ISBN | (eBook) |
| Stock number | Random House Childrens Books, Attn Order Entry 400 Hahn rd, Westminister, MD, USA, 21157 SAN 201-3975 |
