By: Kerry Drewery
Genre: Y - Children's, teenage & educational
Published by: Bonnier
Published: 01 Oct 2016
ISBN: 9781471405594
Description
A world where justice and the fate of those accused of murder is decided by the public, but has moved on from the Roman Gladiator 'thumbs up or thumbs down' public vote, to a public vote by telephone.
If you are voted innocent you are set free; if you are voted guilty you are committed to death by electric chair. Those awaiting their sentence reside in ever decreasing cells, getting smaller each day, until Day 7 and Cell 7, where they hear their fate… Sixteen year old Martha has confessed to killing a famous celebrity.
But has she done it? And if not, why has she claimed the murder? Perhaps she wants to show up the flawed and brutal system by sacrificing herself in the hope of a better world....
Review
Martha Honeydew is 16 and accused of murdering a celebrity TV presenter. She was found with the gun in her hand and admitted she killed him. Now she must wait to be executed in 7 days…
This is a story about a society that has taken ‘eye for an eye’ to a whole new level. A society that no longer has a judge and jury system, or even a court system. A television production company has purchased the rights to control the life and death decisions via a voting system that the public pays for each time they vote. They get to watch the accused in their cells and the voting decision is final. The execution is shown live on TV. But what if they have accused the wrong person?
I found this book so hard to put down. The characters are wonderful and the story is intriguing but also horrifying. Is it possible for us to lose our sense of justice and fair play? Can we so easily be manipulated by newspapers and television shows that we can no longer think for ourselves? Are big corporations and rich celebrities above the law because they have money and power? This book raises so many questions and would allow for some amazing class discussions. There is occasional swearing but given the circumstances Martha finds herself in this is in context.
