Juror Number 2

Book excerpt: This riveting memoir by a published novelist recounts the author's experience as a juror in a murder trial and his subsequent investigation of the conditions in East Harlem that lead young people to be involved in gangs and crime.Beyond its gripping account of the 2017 trial, Juror Number 2 takes you into the housing projects, police precincts and schools in East Harlem to highlight what's working amidst so much that isn't. "The jury system works at assessing innocence or guilt but public institutions too often fail at the daunting job of social repair," Sigel writes, as he lays bare the high cost of fractured families, failing schools, decrepit public housing, and the revolving door of the criminal justice system.ENDORSEMENTS for Juror Number 2: "Truly compelling, impossible to put down."-- Novelist Max Byrd. "Engrossing, engaging, so well written. Such a gift to show the young men caught up in this."--- Wendy Kopp, founder, Teach for America "Riveting. Far more than a courtroom drama; it challenges all of us."--Joseph Johnson, founder, National Center for Urban School Transformation