All American Boys

September 30, 2015 ARC, Book Review 0

I received this ARC from Publisher for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

All American BoysAll American Boys Published by Simon and Schuster on September 29th 2015
Pages: 320
Amazon-Indiebound
Goodreads

In an unforgettable new novel from award-winning authors Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely, two teens—one black, one white—grapple with the repercussions of a single violent act that leaves their school, their community, and, ultimately, the country bitterly divided by racial tension.

A bag of chips. That’s all sixteen-year-old Rashad is looking for at the corner bodega. What he finds instead is a fist-happy cop, Paul Galuzzo, who mistakes Rashad for a shoplifter, mistakes Rashad’s pleadings that he’s stolen nothing for belligerence, mistakes Rashad’s resistance to leave the bodega as resisting arrest, mistakes Rashad’s every flinch at every punch the cop throws as further resistance and refusal to STAY STILL as ordered. But how can you stay still when someone is pounding your face into the concrete pavement?

But there were witnesses: Quinn Collins—a varsity basketball player and Rashad’s classmate who has been raised by Paul since his own father died in Afghanistan—and a video camera. Soon the beating is all over the news and Paul is getting threatened with accusations of prejudice and racial brutality. Quinn refuses to believe that the man who has basically been his savior could possibly be guilty. But then Rashad is absent. And absent again. And again. And the basketball team—half of whom are Rashad’s best friends—start to take sides. As does the school. And the town. Simmering tensions threaten to explode as Rashad and Quinn are forced to face decisions and consequences they had never considered before.

Written in tandem by two award-winning authors, this tour de force shares the alternating perspectives of Rashad and Quinn as the complications from that single violent moment, the type taken from the headlines, unfold and reverberate to highlight an unwelcome truth.

My Thoughts:

The summary provided by the publisher is very complete so I won’t recap what All American Boys is about. What I do want to talk about is my reading experience. First of all, the dual perspectives are so crucial to this story. Even though they’re close in age, go to the same school, and were raised in the same town, Rashad and Quinn bring very different perspectives and life experiences to the story. I mean, there’s the obvious fact that Rashad is the victim of the police brutality while Quinn only witnessed it. However, it’s more than that. And that’s really what this book shows you.

Story time… when I was in eighth grade some friends and I watched my aunt and uncle’s pets overnight in the town next to mine. In the morning, the four of us walked to a local gas station to get some treats. When we walked in the woman behind the counter took one look at me and started yelling at me. She said that I knew the rules and only two teenagers were allowed in the store at a time. She went on and on about how she was sick of me and my friends ignoring the rules. I had no idea what she was talking about. I’d only ever been there a few times and it was always with my mom or dad. I must have looked confused and terrified. I know I was trying to hold back tears. Finally she stopped and took a better look at me. She must have realized I wasn’t who she thought I was. She asked if I was from that town and when I shook my head she said I must look like someone else. She apologized and then said my friends and I should hurry up and make our purchases. We bought our treats and then hightailed it outta there. I still vividly remember this. I was so upset I was shaking. I hadn’t done anything wrong. I was unjustly accused. It wasn’t fair. But life went on. Since then I’ve never had a similar experience. I’ve been in countless stores. I’ve traveled to Chicago, Minneapolis, Boston, Houston, NYC, New Orleans, Orlando…. all over. I’ve never once felt singled out simply because of the way I look. And that’s a privilege.

Now, that event had an impact on me but it is nothing, nothing compared to what people of color go through in the US every day. All American Boys gives the reader a bit of insight into this disparity. Of course I’m not saying I now understand what it’s like to grow up and have employees look at you with suspicion every time you walk into a store. I cannot begin to imagine what that actually feels like, day in and day out. But this book discusses that. It shows how it impacts one boy who experiences this. But it takes it further and shows how this problem then affects those around him… his friends, his classmates, his school, the community, the country at large. Racism affects everyone.

This review is getting out of control long but there is so much to talk about! One last thing I want to point out… I appreciated the fact that we get to see the cop who beat Rashad from the perspective of someone who was close to him. He did a terrible, terrible thing. No part of what he did was acceptable. And he never owns up to it, which is also unacceptable. But he’s also the type of man who sees a young boy who has lost his father and then takes that boy under his wing, becomes like an older brother to him. He isn’t “all bad.” Not all racism is KKK and burning crosses. And it’s the subtle racism, the every day racism that makes children grow up to think it’s okay to treat someone differently based on the color of their skin. And that’s what scares me.

Read this book. I implore you. Read it and then share it with someone in your life. All American Boys by Brendan Kiely and Jason Reynolds is an important and timely story.

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