Details

Length: 389
Story Build: Quick 
Character development: strong
Age Recommendation: 8th grade and up 
Reasoning: language, sexual references, substance abuse references

Summary and Review

I think it was Nic Stone that first alerted me to the then upcoming release of This is my America by Kim Johnson. (You might recall that Nic Stone wrote Dear Martin as well as Clean Getaway; she has written a great deal more, but those are the ones I have covered). I remember Stone hyping Kim Johnson and her novel up on her Instagram account, and I quickly did a search for the summary of the text.

I added it to my Amazon (I try to shop locally, but I often use that Prime shipping… *confession*) cart that day for pre-order, and it arrived the day that the book released.

It sat on my shelf for a bit as I navigated new motherhood and full time teaching, but I returned to it when I saw it was on the Rhode Island Teen Book Award list as well recommended by Project Lit. Once I began, I tore through the novel with haste.

This is my America will first draw you in with the cover — a beautiful portrait of the narrator, Tracy, with some hints of the American flag woven into her hair. Then you will be sucked into the storyline almost immediately upon reading the first page as Tracy relays that her life is dictated by a timetable.

Her father is on death row for the supposed murder of a white couple. He has served seven years, and his execution date is less than a year away.

Tracy is determined to have her father cleared of the charges and brought back home. Over the years she has written to Innocent X, a group of lawyers who work to free innocent people who are wrongfully incarcerated, specifically those who have otherwise been marginalized for race or economic reasons. [This is a nod to Brian Stevenson’s Equal Justice Initiative — you can read more about that in his YA adapted Just Mercy. I highly recommend after reading the adult version.] She has received no response as of yet, so Tracy makes her voice known in other ways throughout the community.

Tracy’s entire focus for the last seven years has been to clear her father’s name; however, when a student at her high school is murdered, her brother, Jamal, becomes the prime suspect, and her family is suddenly reliving the trauma of a police investigation and town gossip. Tracy is now forced to save the two men in her family … can she do it?

I didn’t expect the story to be a mystery, but at the core, at the basic premise, there is the thread of “whodunnit.” Who killed the young woman? Why? Therefore, this novel has the page- turning suspense that keeps you hooked.

What I did expect of this novel is the conversation around racism and wrongful convictions in our criminal justice system. Kim Johnson has drawn on her decades of experience as an activist and leader for social justice organizations as well as her own identity as a black woman in the United States. Reading her author’s note at the conclusion of the novel made it clear how personal this story is, how necessary it is to be told.

While This is my America is a work of fiction, it is clearly based in reality. In the novel, there is myriads of mentions of the KKK and of even newer hate groups that are forming. I have moved from a place of ignorance when it comes to the hatred in our world, but even I was stunned to realize just how close we still are to the times of the KKK. In fact, it still exists today…

So many of us, me included, are far removed from the realities that are outlined in Johnson’s novel. But that’s why it’s of vital importance to read the experiences of other people in our country. It’s only through the eyes of a narrator that I am going to even be able to TRY and fathom the sense of hopelessness and fear that someone in Tracy’s position would endure. However, through this same protagonist, I can be inspired by her determination and stubbornness, her pride and her fierce love for her family.

Like I mentioned before, this book is showcased on many lists right now — and I hope I highlighted why. You should read this book because it will be eye-opening (that’s cliche, but it’s true). You should read this book because it will make you feel uncomfortable. You should read this book because it will both simultaneously make you feel disheartened but also inspired.

Celebrations

This book is a necessary read for its content.

[I will add that I loved the nod to Brian Stevenson’s work…]

Hesitations

In terms of the author’s craft — the word choice and style of the writing — it was fine. But I don’t think that matters. The story is of the upmost importance.