Genre: Young Adult, Nonfiction
Source: I own a copy
This is
a true story that took place in 2013. It
explores many issues and how they are handled. Sasha is an agender, autistic
teen who likes wearing skirts. Richard
is a teen who decides to set Sasha’s skirt on fire while they are sleeping. It
was meant to be a prank. Many things played a role in the sentence that Richard
was given. The actual event was horrific no matter what gender. However, when you look at all the facts
several things come to mind. So let me start by saying that the incident, no
matter what race or gender the victim and perpetrator were needed to be
punished. When reading the book I
noticed a couple of things in particular.
The first thing I noticed was that Sasha was white and Richard was
African American. The second thing we
notice is their gender identification and their financial status. When you read a book and the victim’s family
stands up for the person accused of the crime and it is ignored then you have
to imagine something is wrong with the system. Richard is questions without a
lawyer and makes statements that paint him as homophobic. Due to this and other
circumstances he is tried as an adult. Yes I do believe what he did was wrong
on so many levels. Do I believe he should have been tried as an adult? No.
This crime changed both lives. By the press and everyone involved
focusing on race and gender there was a lot of bias found in this case. The author brings a human side to the story.
By telling what happened to both teens and telling us both sides of the story
we get a better picture of the humans these two are. So often the news takes a story and puts
their own slant on it to fit the politics of the time. I can’t have it on my
shelves, but I can sure recommend students check it out from their local
library.
