A short, humorous novella, set in 1931, about a 17-year-old Idaho girl put on trial for attempted murder after she shoots the boat of a local ne'er-do-well full of holes and causes it to sink. The jury has only six members (one of whom brings five of her fifteen children with her, and nurses the youngest during the trial), because the guy appointed as judge (who has no idea what he's doing) can't find any more people who aren't busy. The prosecutor is an uptight, young, Harvard-educated lawyer who finds himself falling in love with the defendant, so they spend much of the trial making eyes at each other. Volume 1 of the Settlement trilogy. I'll read the others if I ever find them (this one came from a used bookstore; I paid $1.08 for it and don't feel like spending more for the others).
"Oh, you can’t help that," said the Cat: "we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad." "How do you know I’m mad?" said Alice. "You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn’t have come here.”
