Walter Dean Myers creates the story of sixteen-year-old Steve Harmon, from Steve's point of view, as he struggles with the fact that he is being tried for felony murder. It is a trial that, if the jury finds him guilty, could result in the death penalty at worst, and at best, over twenty years in prison. Steve is a young filmmaker, and as a result, Myers writes the novel in two forms. Most sections open with a narrative from Steve, as written in a notebook that he keeps in prison and in the courtroom, and then close in a screenplay format, where the characters' names are given in all-capital letters and camera directions accompany the dialog.

The general plot is simple. The reader first hears from Steve in a prologue narrative where he describes what it is like to be in jail as he waits for...