Realistic (fiction), 3,008 words, Level X (Grade 5), Lexile 770L
The School Versus James Holt tells the story of a fifth-grade classroom learning about the process of a jury trial. Students are assigned roles as they try a real case in which the main character must prove that her friend James is innocent so he doesn't receive a week's worth of detention for a crime he says he didn't commit. Illustrations support the text.