All American Boys

This novel is extra special because it’s written by two author friends, one Black, one white, and shows the complexity of racial inequality and police violence firsthand with basketball as the backdrop. This moving story encourages discussion and will make you reflect. It’s also a great introduction to the two authors’ work, and especially interesting to see how Jason Reynolds has since grown into his role as National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. 

This is the first book in a long, long time to give me big, choking emotions. Sixteen-year-old Rashad Butler’s only crime is to be Black in the wrong place at the wrong time and nets a beatdown from a young, hard-assed beat cop. Rashad’s classmate, Quinn, is white, a witness, and one of the cop’s mentees and close family friends. The book is fiction, but things like this are happening even as you read this sentence. The thought that we have to do better than this kept me twisting in the sheets for weeks.