Does This School Have Capital Punishment

by Nat Hentoff

Sam Davidson and school never did get along. But at his new school, Burr Academy in New York City, he finds new friends and new interests. When he interviews Major Kelley, a black trumpeter who helped shape the jazz scene, another world opens up to him.

But school, which was bearable, becomes a nightmare when unpopular, well-connected Saddlefield frames Sam and his friend frames Sam and his friend for possession of marijuana. Unless Saddlefield confesses, the boys will be expelled. Is there anyone wo can get through to Saddlefield? Or will Sam's future be ruined once again?

Genres: Young Adult

160 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1981

About the author

Nathan Irving "Nat" Hentoff was a historian, novelist, music critic, and syndicated columnist. As a civil libertarian and free-speech activist, he has been described by the Cato Institute—where he has been a senior fellow since 2009—as "one of the foremost authorities on the First Amendment" to the U.S. Constitution. He was a staff writer for The New Yorker for over 25 years, and was formerly a columnist for The Village Voice for over 50 years, in addition to Legal Times, The Washington Post, The Washington Times, and The Progressive, among others. Since 2014, he has been a regular contributor to the conservative Christian website WorldNetDaily, often in collaboration with his son Nick Hentoff.

Hentoff was a Fulbright Fellow at the Sorbonne in Paris in 1950 and was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in education in 1972. The American Bar Association bestowed the Silver Gavel Award in 1980 for his columns on law and criminal justice, and five years later his undergraduate alma mater, Northeastern University, awarded him an honorary Doctorate of Law degree. While working at the Village Voice in 1995, the National Press Foundation granted him the W.M. Kiplinger Distinguished Contributions to Journalism Award. He was a 1999 finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Commentary, "for his passionate columns championing free expression and individual rights," which was won by Maureen Dowd. In 2004 he became the first non-musician to be named an NEA Jazz Master by the U.S. National Endowment for the Arts.

Hentoff lectured at many colleges, universities, law schools, elementary, middle and high schools, and has taught courses in journalism and the U.S. Constitution at Princeton University and New York University. He serves on the Board of Advisors of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (F.I.R.E.) and is on the steering committee of the Reporters' Committee for the Freedom of the Press.

Reviews

[Laina SpareTime]

Cross-posted from my blog where there's more information on where I got my copy and everything.

You know, this was interesting. The author is obviously very passionate about jazz, and the respect and knowledge really does show in the writing. While this has not aged incredibly well, it’s interesting and I think at the time, it was doing some neat things. The writing style is not my favourite, but the story was interesting, so it’s not a total loss. This is another one that would be interesting to read a modern version or equivalent, perhaps.

I don’t think I’m going to keep it, but I’m glad I read it.

[Josh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sam is a good kid who is compulsively honest. He gets into trouble when a kid he doesn’t like throws a marijuana cigarette at him in the locker room and then leaves. Just then a teacher comes in and catches him and he is almost expelled. Only his reputation for always telling the truth saves him. Throughout this story Sam interviews an old Jazz trumpet player and makes friends with him. This friendship turns out to be extremely important in resolving the story. All in all I thought this was an ok book. Very quick read and pleasant, but not engrossing.

[Misty · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm reading quite a few YA books this year, in order to write Accelerated Reader tests for them for my library. This one presented the philosophy that music can fix many ills, and since I agree, I enjoyed it!

[Rachael]

Nearly 30 years since I first read this. I still find the jazz descriptions difficult to read & follow. Otherwise, a good book with interesting ideas