The Stats
📖 BOOK REVIEW⠀📚
BOOK: This is My America
AUTHOR: Kim Johnson
@kcjohnsonwrites
Publisher: Random House Children’s Books @randomhousechildrens
Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Published: July 28, 2020
“The prison-industrial complex is a $182 billion industry that feeds off the lives of Black, brown, and poor people caught up in its vicious cycle.* While mass incarceration is a complex problem, I wanted to simply (ha ha) focus on how it’s almost impossible to prove someone is innocent without adequate representation.”
The Review:
I read this book right after The Hate U Give. While the general theme of systemic racism is still present, the story is very much different. In fact, this is a murder mystery, which very much surprised me!
It was a compelling read, moving along at a good pace. There were satisfying twists and turns and enough facts that kept the ending believable. Definitely pick this up if you like young adult murder mysteries!
You can see my video review here:
Small Summary:
Every week, seventeen-year-old Tracy Beaumont writes letters to Innocence X, asking the organization to help her father, an innocent Black man on death row. After seven years, Tracy is running out of time—her dad has only 267 days left. Then the unthinkable happens. The police arrive in the night, and Tracy’s older brother, Jamal, goes from being a bright, promising track star to a “thug” on the run, accused of killing a white girl. Determined to save her brother, Tracy investigates what really happened between Jamal and Angela down at the Pike. But will Tracy and her family survive the uncovering of the skeletons of their Texas town’s racist history that still haunt the present?
Fans of Nic Stone and Jason Reynolds won’t want to miss this provocative and gripping debut.
*****
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Received from Netgalley.
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