Harvard University’s Danielle Allen visits the L.H. Bluford Branch for a special afternoon discussion of her new book, CUZ: The Life and Times of Michael A.

Cuz tells the story of how youthful errors, a family’s missteps, misguided three strike laws, and a society’s willingness to try juveniles as adults combined to set her cousin on a tragic arc from gifted student and aspiring writer to 15-year-old attempted carjacker, prison inmate and, finally, homicide victim.

Says Nobel Prize in Literature recipient John Maxwell: “In plain terms, stripped of the jargon of the social sciences, (Danielle Allen) shows us what can await if you are young, black, and unlucky in today’s United States.”

Allen will also discuss the book at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, September 14, 2017, at the Central Library, 14 W. 10^th St.