Lily Watson is twelve. She's in sixth grade. She's about to serve on a jury for a murder trial-all because of a new law saying a child must serve on the jury when a trial concerns a child victim. She'll be out of school for a month, and that means she'll have to go to summer school. And That Is So Unfair.

Fortunately, the jury experience isn't all bad. The jury stays in the Menagerie Hotel, where every room is decorated like a different animal. They get a behind-the-scenes tour at a local zoo, home to Priscilla, the world-famous gorilla artist. Lily even makes friends with a glamorous movie star who happens to be on the jury. But nothing--even the fact that the hotel is part of the Tyle-0-Tropolis, an incredible entertainment complex-changes the fact that the jury is witnessing the trial of a man who has been accused of killing Perry Keet, an eleven-year-old boy who disappeared one day at the zoo. Lily has her own thoughts on what happened to Perry, and if the real story isn't revealed in court, she's going to find out for herself what happened.

Told through journals, memos, illustrations, newspaper articles, and court documents, Trial By Journal is both a funny mystery and an insider's look at the workings of a jury trial, by the author and illustrator of Regarding the Fountain and Letters From Camp.