Review: Just Mercy YRE

Just Mercy: a True Story of the Fight for Justice (adapted for young adults) by Bryan Stevenson.
Ember, Random House Children’s Books, Penguin Random House, New York, originally 2018, my movie tie-in version published 2019.
YA nonfiction, 278 pages including back matter.
Lexile: 1040L .
AR Level: 7.5 (worth 11.0 points) .
NOTE: This review is of the YRE, but I’ve also reviewed the adult book.

An adaption for teens of the compelling story of Bryan Stevenson’s work with mainly death row prisoners, especially focusing on Walter McMillian – a man long imprisoned for murder he definitely didn’t commit.

Just Mercy: A True Story of the Fight for Justice, Adapted for Young Readers by Bryan Stevenson

Back when I reviewed the adult version of Just Mercy, I’d mentioned going back for the YRE. It did take a few years to read and review this book, but having some distance allowed me to approach the book with a fresh mindset. While the overall story stuck with me, many of the details (especially of the side cases Stevenson discusses) had floated out of my brain. I’m sure this was a tricky book to create a YRE version of – Stevenson’s original work used such poetic language even when discussing horrors, and some mention of crimes is essential to understanding the events of the book.

The alterations here are more based on the content than the language. In a few places more challenging legal terms or difficult vocabulary were changed for a simpler read, but this kept a surprisingly high reading level. In fact, if it didn’t say young adults on the cover, I would gladly suggest this to several adults I know. It’s always interesting reading these YRE adaptions after the adult book as some greatly oversimplify, others provide more details and are much more readable than the original, or books like this one merely provide a faithful and compelling adaptation.

Chapters generally alternate between the story of Walter McMillian, told in great detail, and stories of Bryan Stevenson’s career – both how he came to find his calling founding the EJI in Alabama, and a variety of interesting or illuminative cases and topics. Stevenson has a knack for writing chapter endings that leave just enough suspense to keep readers wanting more, but generally not too much that would convince them to skip ahead to the end of the book.

Providing the other stories serves several purposes: it gives the reader a fuller idea of the state of the American justice system; readers are given either a break from the intensity or a bit of suspense relating to Walter’s case; and it’s impossible to view the miscarriage of justice as an unusual accident. Stevenson deftly exposes institutional racism through a fascinating and terrifyingly relatable story.

I’m glad this exists not only for the presumed target audience, but also for hi-lo adult readers, especially those in prison. Stevenson mentions several times how some of his clients were barely literate and struggled to read or file motions, and having an easier version to read may make this more accessible. Another important aspect of this book is that Stevenson keeps the story ultimately hopeful. While he correctly points out the many both individual and systematic injustices that occurred and surely still do today, he also is sure to mention those people who try to do the right thing and work for true justice.

This balance of stark realities and hope for the future is balanced just as astutely as in the adult read, and is even perhaps more poignant in a book meant for teens. I still hope live long enough to see a world where this book is outdated and far from the reality of young readers.

This book could certainly be used at the high school level, but whether it could be used in middle school depends a lot on the context. The reading level is still fairly high and the subject matter difficult, so whether this topic is likely to be of interest to a class or how likely they are to struggle with the reading would inform my decision for younger students. I would not use this as a class read with elementary students, although it may work for individual children to read, provided they are very mature, have a high reading level, and an adult available to discuss some of the tricky nuances or emotional moments with.

While this book cuts or refers obliquely to the many gruesome crime references (both those allegedly committed by the imprisoned persons and those perpetrated against them in the courts or in prison), many still could not be avoided and mentions are made of murders, rapes, theft, police brutality, lynching attempts, extreme poverty, and more. Knowing the bare bones of McMillian’s infidelity, the various accused crimes, and other aspects are essential to understanding how, and possibly why, events unfolded as they did.

For those reasons I’d generally consider this a teen book, although it certainly could be appropriate for individual students much younger. Depending on the circumstances I could see this as a class or small group read for upper middle grades as well, but would strongly suggest prereading.

Recommended.