The Day Tajon Got Shot - Beacon House

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

From the cover:

"Meet Tajon.

Tajon is sixteen and black.
He's tall and skinny, and he wears his hair in dreads.
Tajon works hard and tries his best to be good.
He does OK in school. He has plans.
He's determined.

Tajon is the kind of son who cares about his family.
He's the kind of brother who stands up for his sister.
He's the kind of kid who dreams big dreams to get himself and
those he loves up and out of the hood.

Tajon is the one who gets shot.

Meet the authors.
Ten black teen girls in Washington, DC started writing this book during the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement. They began with one central question: What really happens in a community when a black youth is the victim of violence by police? Each writer takes on the perspective of a central character - the victim, the police officer, the witness, the parent, the friend - and examines how it feels to be a human being on all sides of this event. Their stories thoughtfully explore issues of race, violence, loyalty, and justice in a community torn apart but seeking connection."

This book is important, and not just because of the topic. Books like The Hate U Give, All American Boys, How It Went Down, etc. are all valuable, and if you have the time and inclination I recommend reading all of them. Before you do, though, I suggest you get your hands on a copy of this book--legit, ask me, I will lend you mine.

Why should this be number one on your to read list? First things first, because it was written by a group of teenage girls. If that knowledge doesn't hit you like a punch in the gut with every word you read, then you just might be missing a heart. Think about what they must be going through to be able to produce something like this. These girls worked together to examine all sides of the epidemic of police violence toward black people in a thoughtful, emotional, and powerful way, and I was blown away with every page. As if that's not enough, they brought each character to life, and I caught myself holding my breath multiple times as I read. Finally, the artwork incorporated into the story added even more depth. This book is a work of art. And page 151, man...I don't think I've ever reacted so strongly to a book before. 

Final reason to read this? Jason freaking Reynolds tweeted that people needed to read it. Jason Reynolds, guys. If you don't want to take my word for it, take his. I promise you, he's right.

Dear Martin - Nic Stone

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

From the cover:

"Raw, captivating, and undeniably real, Nic Stone joins industry giants Jason Reynolds and Walter Dean Myers as she boldly tackles American race relations in this stunning debut.

Justyce McAllister is top of his class and set for the Ivy League—but none of that matters to the police officer who just put him in handcuffs. And despite leaving his rough neighborhood behind, he can't escape the scorn of his former peers or the ridicule of his new classmates. Justyce looks to the teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for answers. But do they hold up anymore? He starts a journal to Dr. King to find out.

Then comes the day Justyce goes driving with his best friend, Manny, windows rolled down, music turned up—way up, sparking the fury of a white off-duty cop beside them. Words fly. Shots are fired. Justyce and Manny are caught in the crosshairs. In the media fallout, it's Justyce who is under attack."

I'm getting very behind in writing reviews, so disclaimer: they're gonna be short and sweet until I get caught up.

I read this the weekend that Childish Gambino's "This is America" music video came out, so I got to the most intense part of this book and watched the music video within an hour or so of each other. Fuuuuuuuuck. Can't get either one out of my head. After things went down during Justyce and Manny's car ride, I felt viscerally angry when stories on the news came out trying to paint Justyce as a thug and when the defense attorney in the police officer's trial brought up things unrelated to the shooting, trying to make it sound like Manny deserved what he got. Excellent job, Nic Stone, on writing a book that makes the reader feel so fired up. Justyce's emotions really came through, and the injustice going on throughout the book made me furious. The only downside I found listening to the audiobook, and the reason I only gave it four stars, is that format of the book didn't always lend itself to being read aloud. There were points where the story felt stilted or abrupt, and I wonder if that was because of the format. Definitely planning to read the physical book and see if it flows a little better...which in all honesty is not a downside. It was an excellent book, and I'm looking forward to reading it again and hopefully bumping this review up to a five-star.

The Hate U Give - Angie Thomas

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

From the cover:

"Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.

Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil's name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr.

But what Starr does or does not say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life. "

Everyone should read this book. It might as well be non-fiction...it sure as hell felt like non-fiction. I don't live in Starr's world, and THUG is such an eye-opening glimpse into how differently kids in her situation grow up compared to how I did. I get nervous when there's a cop behind me in traffic because getting a ticket would be inconvenient. Kids like Starr grow up being taught how to behave with police officers to hopefully, fingers crossed, if everything goes well, not end up beaten or dead. 

Let that sink in, man.

Kids in Starr's situation are growing up legitimately afraid for their lives. Jesus Christ. 

Read this book. Then give it to a friend and get them to read it.

All American Boys - Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

From the cover:

"Rashad is absent again today.

That’s the sidewalk graffiti that started it all…

Well, no, actually, a lady tripping over Rashad at the store, making him drop a bag of chips, was what started it all. Because it didn’t matter what Rashad said next—that it was an accident, that he wasn’t stealing—the cop just kept pounding him. Over and over, pummeling him into the pavement. So then Rashad, an ROTC kid with mad art skills, was absent again…and again…stuck in a hospital room. Why? Because it looked like he was stealing. And he was a black kid in baggy clothes. So he must have been stealing.

And that’s how it started.

And that’s what Quinn, a white kid, saw. He saw his best friend’s older brother beating the daylights out of a classmate. At first Quinn doesn’t tell a soul…He’s not even sure he understands it. And does it matter? The whole thing was caught on camera, anyway. But when the school—and nation—start to divide on what happens, blame spreads like wildfire fed by ugly words like “racism” and “police brutality.” Quinn realizes he’s got to understand it, because, bystander or not, he’s a part of history. He just has to figure out what side of history that will be.

Rashad and Quinn—one black, one white, both American—face the unspeakable truth that racism and prejudice didn’t die after the civil rights movement. There’s a future at stake, a future where no one else will have to be absent because of police brutality. They just have to risk everything to change the world.

Cuz that’s how it can end. "

"If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor." -Desmond Tutu

I wish this book wasn't so necessary, but god damn. It might as well be non-fiction. Rashad stops by the corner store on a Friday after school to get a bag of chips. When he bends down to get his cell phone out of his bag, a woman trips over him. When the shop owner and a police officer see a bag of chips fly out of his hands, they assume he was shoplifting, so naturally the police officer cuffs him and then proceeds to beat the shit out of him, landing the teenaage ROTC student in the hospital with broken ribs, a broken nose, and internal bleeding.

Quinn is waiting outside the corner store to score some beer for a party when he sees his best friend's older brother, a police officer, beating a black teenage boy outside the store. At first, Quinn can't come to terms with what he's just witnessed. Paul has been like a father to him since his own father died, and he wants to believe there was a reason for what went down. But what reason can there be that would explain what he saw? As much as he wants to support his best friend's family, Quinn has some difficult decisions to make about what he believes and what kind of person he wants to be.

This book might make you cry. Honestly, it probably should, for all the people who are #absentagaintoday.