This is My America
By: Kim Johnson
Published Year: 2020
Publisher: Random House
Pages: 416
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This in no way shape or form influenced my opinion of this novel.
Summary (Provided by Goodreads): 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?
First Impressions
I first hear about this book through Twitter right before the most recent wave of the Black Lives Matter movement. It sounded interesting but, I’ll be honest, I was nervous to read it because I knew it was going to make me angry and uncomfortable. After the May/June movement started I came to terms with the fact that I needed to make myself uncomfortable and not only added it to my to-read list, but requested a copy for review on Netgalley. The cover is beautiful and was definitely what initially caught my eye.
What I thought
Wow. This book is so good. I have not read a debut this good in a very long time.
Tracy has been writing to Innocence X to take her father’s case for years. Her dad is in jail, sentenced to the death penalty for a murder he did not commit. He has less than a year left when her brother is accused by the police of murdering one of his white female classmates. With Jamal on the run and time running out on her father’s time in jail, Tracey takes it upon herself to find out what really happened.
I’ll say it again. This book is so good. The way that Johnson writes about the injustices in our police system within the black community is heartbreakingly beautiful. There is a chapter in which Tracey is giving a presentation on knowing your rights which covers what to do if you are stopped by a police officer. There were so many facts that she shared that I had never even thought about and definitely never had been taught. It opened my eyes to all of the stupid little things that a black person needs to worry about that I don’t as a white woman.
I loved Tracey. Even though we are different people from different situations, I was able to relate to her easily. I enjoyed her two male friends, but do wish that her female friend (sorry, I’m blanking on names) had been in it a bit more. It felt like she was going to be more central in the beginning but then she kind of disappeared. I mean, this isn’t a story about friendship so I get it, I just would have been curious to have her around a little more.
This book made me uncomfortable, just as I expected, but I needed it. there were a few moments where I wanted to put the book down because I hated to hear about what was happening, but I know that it happens in real life and people don’t have the luxury of putting down their life and walking away.
I honestly don’t have anything negative to say about this book. It’s beautifully written and will make you uncomfortable but you will learn from it. I think this is a great book for anyone and everyone to read even though it is YA. It gave me perspective into parts of life I have not seen or experienced before. I look forward to reading more by Johnson in the future and pushing this book on everybody I know.