"The wrenching, and inspiring, story of a fourteen-year-old sentenced to life in prison, of the extraordinary relationship that developed between him and the woman he shot, and of his release after twenty-six years of imprisonment through the efforts of America's greatest contemporary legal activist, Bryan Stevenson. Here is the story of a poor black kid from the toughest neighborhood of Tampa, Florida, who at age eleven began "jacking" (stealing)...

Follows the participation of survivors of violent crimes and prisoners in San Quentin for murder in the Victim Offender Education Group, which helps prisoners to understand how their past traumas contribute to their criminality and the impact their crimes have on their victims.

Long-held myths defining the sources of and cures for crime are shattered in this ground-breaking book--and a chilling profile of today's criminal emerges. -publisher description.

Presents the author's story of turning his life sentence in prison into a journey of self-improvement, using hard work and a master plan of everything he expected to accomplish to ultimately convince a judge to reduce his sentence.

"In 1991, Shaka Senghor was sent to prison for second-degree murder. Today, he is a lecturer at the University of Michigan, a leading voice on criminal justice reform, and an inspiration to thousands. In life, it's not how you start that matters. It's how you finish. Shaka Senghor was raised in a middle class neighborhood on Detroit's east side during the height of the 1980s crack epidemic. An honor roll student and a natural leader, he dreamed...