Getting Away with Murder: The True Story of the Emmett Till Case

My son was assigned in 8th Grade Language Arts class to read any book on the subject of Emmett Till's death. He reported that this book was a good non-fiction read and presented the facts in a balanced manner. He highly recommends that if any other middle-schooler has a similar assignment, that they pick this book to read.

The story of Emmett Till is one that everyone needs to hear. It is a little-known story of a black boy from Chicago that is murdered in Mississippi on 1955 for whistling at a white woman while visiting relatives in Money, Mississippi. He was fourteen years old and unfamiliar with the Jim Crow Laws of the South. Chris Crowe is able to put together an eye-opening book about Emmett and the facts of his murder, the trial, and the events of the Civil Rights Movement that soon follow. This book may take readers out of their safe comfort zone of the current times, but tells a true story of a young boy that died at the hands of adults because of the color of his skin. This book received the IRA's children Book Award and was a Jane Addams Honor Book. In the classroom this book could be used to teach research, how to find reliable sources, and how pull research together, as well as to introduce the Civil Rights movement into a unit of study. Chris Crowe is an English professor of young adult literature at Brigham Young University. He became interested in Emmett Till when writing a book about Mildred D. Taylor. She had written about Emmett in one of her essays. He followed up on Emmett and was able to tell his story.

I am not really big on non-fiction. Most of it feels like reading a text book. However, I decided to read Getting Away with Murder: The True Story of the Emmett Till Case by Chris Crowe because of a book talk my Young Adult Literature Teacher gave on it and because one of my requirements for this class was to read a non fiction young adult book. I was pleasantly surprised. It gives a window into the Southern Culture and Racism of the 1950's without feeling like a textbook. If there is any question if racism actually existed, it is proved in this book. I thought it is very well written for young adults because of things it contains that make the story real and personal. First, the author uses interviews and court records to tell what happened, so the reader can enjoy a lot of first hand accounts of the events that took place. The book is also filled with many pictures of Emmett, his mother, J.W. Milam and Roy Bryant (the men who killed Emmett), and pictures of places where different events happened. These pictures of actual people and places help the reader realize that these were actual events, not just stories. The author also shows how the event of the murder of Emmett Till related to the civil rights movement. This adds more significance to the events, and also imparts more knowledge to the reader who may not know a lot about this time period. I think it is a great read for teens of all ages, and adults too. Anyone who would like to learn more about what segregation and racism was about, or are just interested in the civil rights era, will enjoy this book. I definitely plan on sharing this book with my children!

I do recommend this book because there is still racism in the United States of America today and many people need to stop because nobody wants to be insulted because of there race. The books plot was how people were treated back in the 1940's and 50's and gave me many reasons why not to be a racist. I would not like to read another book by Chris Crowe again because this book was extremely sad. This book is perfect for people that are trying to improve themselves and are trying to put themselves in someone else's shoes way back when.

This book is a very good buy and very interesting read. This book follows a young boy named Emmett Till. This book is based on real facts and was considered the cause of the beggnining of the civil rights movement. This read will not only give you real facts and info, but will bring a tear to your eye and really think about what life was like during this time period.