Facing the Wind

A True Story of Tragedy and Reconciliation by Julie Salaman

CW: Ableism, violence

Themes: crime, children with disabilities, mental illness

Nonfiction. I went into this book knowing nothing about the topic. It’s hard to describe, and that’s one reason why it has average ratings. There’s a crime, but the main topic of the first half is a group of parents raising kids with various disabilities. The second half is about crime and reconciliation.

It’s a good book for people interested in all the topics. The author did a good job of being neutral, like a reporter. Other authors (especially in true crime) couldn’t tell this story without repeatedly calling people monsters. I appreciate writers who allow the audience to decide for themselves instead of insisting one character is evil, and the other is from a good middle-class family. 

The Sing Sing Files

The Sing Sing Files: One Journalist, Six Innocent Men, and a Twenty-Year Fight for Justice by Dan Slepian

Themes: mass incarceration, justice system, prison reform,

This is another great book about the United States’ flawed justice system. It was written by Dan Slepian, a producer for Dateline.

This book moved me, but I also wondered why we needed a new book after all the other books had been written. More organizations are trying to get innocent people exonerated than 30 years ago.

Empathic people will hurt, along with the people in jail and the author.

This book is an unexpected gift, fast-paced, and very gripping.