Nora Lumsey, a big-boned appeals court clerk, faces her first assignment: to draft an opinion upholding the conviction of a deaf ten-year-old in a drive-by shooting. When Nora discovers her connection to the boy's family, she starts her own inner-city investigation. Camryn Manheim, star of TV's The Practice, has optioned this debut novel and plans to produce and star in the film. Martin's Press.