   | Full Text Reviews: School Library Journal - 11/01/2015 Gr 7 Up—Lizzie Borden: the name alone conjures up the legendary story of a daughter who brutally hacked her parents to death with an axe. And yet, as this thoroughly researched account demonstrates, the story is far more complicated. Miller untangles a complex story of a misunderstood young woman, difficult family dynamics, sensationalized news stories, bungling detectives, and more. Borden's father and stepmother were murdered with an axe or hatchet of some kind while both Borden and the family housekeeper were at home. The evidence against Borden was circumstantial at best and nonexistent at worst. Nonetheless, she was indicted for the crime and sent to jail for the duration of the investigation and succeeding trial. Miller carefully walks readers through the cast of characters, the mores and customs of the time, legal procedures, varying newspaper accounts, and the enormous amount of gossip that all became part of the landscape surrounding this crime. Extensive use of primary source documents reveals that much is still not known about the case. Fans of the podcast Serial will find much to enjoy here, as each chapter reveals a new piece of the puzzle and examines it from every angle available. Photographs, documents, and other ephemera are included and round out the narrative, creating a wonderfully full and accessible account of this moment in history. VERDICT Though readers will know the outcome of the trial from the very beginning, they will be invested in the narrative. Sure to be a hit with true crime fans everywhere.—Jody Kopple, Shady Hill School, Cambridge, MA - Copyright 2015 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission. Booklist - 11/15/2015 Lizzie Borden’s trial for the murders of her father and stepmother captivated her contemporaries, and her story became fodder for salacious gossip and fanatic newspaper coverage. In this even-handed account, Miller sifts through misinformation to deliver the facts, scant as they are, and recount the intricacies of the court case that drew thousands to tiny Fall River, Massachusetts. Beginning with the morning of the murders, Miller pieces together the events from sworn testimonies and the more reputable articles from the period. Since the most reliable information came from court records, most of Miller’s account takes place in the court room, which can occasionally become dry, particularly given the obtuse nature of nineteenth-century writing. Nevertheless, Miller frequently uses the case to clarify sometimes-muddy details about the law, such as the difference between an inquest and grand jury. Gory details abound, but Miller is careful not to take a side. Plenty of photos, informative inset boxes, and an extensive bibliography round out this well-researched resource, which invites students to think critically about an infamous story. - Copyright 2015 Booklist. School Library Journal - 12/01/2016 Gr 7 Up—In 1892, Lizzie Borden, a well-to-do young woman from Fall River, MA, went on trial for the brutal murder of her father and stepmother. Miller lays out the facts of the case in painstaking detail, chapter by chapter. Investigating newspaper reports and affidavits and providing historical context for modern readers, Miller crafts a superbly researched work that reads like a thriller and asks probing questions about media bias, sexism, and what lurks in the darkest recesses of the human heart. - Copyright 2016 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission. Loading...
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