Abe Lincoln Book Award 2020: The 57 Bus

In-depth interviews with teenage prisoners who have been sentenced to death and are awaiting execution on death row provides a powerful look at life behind bars, the effects their decisions have had on themselves and others, and their personal views on the death penalty itself.

Draws on six first-person interviews to share compassionate insights into the teen transgender experience, tracing each individual's emotional and physical journey as it was shaped by family dynamics, living situations and the transition each teen made during the personal journey toward acknowledgement of gender preference.

Marc Mauer and Ashley Nellis of The Sentencing Project argue that there is no practical or moral justification for a sentence longer than twenty years. Harsher sentences have been shown to have little effect on crime rates, since people 'age out' of crime--meaning that we're spending a fortune on geriatric care for older prisoners who pose little threat to public safety. Extreme punishment for serious crime also has an inflationary effect on sentences across the spectrum, helping to account for severe mandatory minimums and other harsh punishments. Also features profiles of . . . people affected by life sentences, written by former 'lifer' and writer Kerry Myers.