This Is My America

This book needs to be a mandatory read in schools. It’s honest, beautiful, and poignant. This book maybe be fiction but it speaks truth about America, the good parts and the ugly parts. I am so glad that by a happy accident I ordered two copies. My sister-in-law has a boy Jamal’s age, a girl about Tracy’s age, and she has a third whose name is also Corrine like the youngest child in this book. I am happy to pass a long a hopeful and beautiful story like this to my sister-in-law. During times that can seem so scary, in a world that seems so divisive, a story like this one can give us so much hope.

Wow. This book was powerful and very, very relevant to today's world. This is hands down, one of the best books I have ever read.The story follows our main character Tracy as she is trying to get her father's case appealed, nine months before he is executed for his role in a double murder. While she is working to prove his innocence, her track star brother Jamal is accused of murdering the most popular girl (who is conveniently White) one night.The story then takes off and tackles the subject of Black Lives Matter and the racial injustices that Black people face when it comes to police and the criminal justice system.This book was a work of fiction, but it felt so real at the same time because the things that were happening to our characters are truly happening in today's world to individuals of color of all ages. Tracy's motivation and dedication to fighting her father's case for over seven years is remarkable. I found myself tearing up and very angry at so many different parts of this story because of the way that our main characters were being treated. The author also dabbled with the history of the KKK and integrate them into the story to remind readers that White Supremacists are still very much out there and active.5+ stars

"Perhaps because she's never had to walk in fear. Every day my senses are on alert, expecting something to happen. Sure, I'm shaken. Scared. Never imagined something like this could happen so close to home. But deep down this feeling is familiar. It runs through my veins, the blood from every generation before me passing down this fear, coded into my DNA." - Tracy, This Is My America"The laws might change, the systems might look different. All of these books say what the problem is. Working ten times harder to get half. Seems to me, all the blood that's been spilled ain't our debt. But we paying it over and over again. And the world acts like there's something wrong with us. They hate us so damn much. ... Four hundred years, and we still ain't American to them, T." - Jamal, This Is My AmericaTracy Beaumont has written a letter to Innocence X every week for seven years, asking for the non-profit organization to help her father, an innocent Black man on death row for a crime he didn't commit. With less than a year before his execution, Tracy knows time is running out to save her dad, but with no response in seven years, it seems like her efforts may be futile.As Tracy tries to not only keep pleading her dad's innocence, but to also keep organizing and hosting her "Know Your Right" workshops, writing her column for the school newspaper, and helping support her mother, brother, Jamal, and seven-year-old sister, Corinne, the pressure and stakes are suddenly raised even higher when the police show up at the Beaumont home. In a nightmarish turn, Jamal (an honor student and track star whose future is so bright) is wanted for allegedly murdering a white female classmate, and he is nowhere to be found.Can Tracy save both Jamal and her dad?This is another book that absolutely touched my heart and soul, and left me forever changed. Like The Hate U Give, Dear Martin, and On the Come Up, This Is My America opened my eyes even further to the overt and systemic racism and injustice in our country, and pointed to my white privilege. Though this story is fictional, the injustice, racism, stereotypes, and hurdles both James and Jamal Beaumont face in this book are rooted in reality that Black people in our country face every day, and that simultaneously breaks my heart and enrages me.Although this book was not easy to read, and had me in tears several times, it is such an important and relevant read, especially in light of the inhumane and unlawful treatment Black men and women have endured the past several years. I learned so much about racism within the criminal justice system, post-prison survival and recovery, police brutality, the Black Lives Matter movement, and innocence projects. Additionally, my heart broke each and every time I read about the fear and pain Black men, women, and children experience on a daily basis, and have experienced for generations. It especially pained me to see how these things impacted Corinne, who was forced to grow up so fast and seemed so much older than her seven years.From the first word to the last sentence of Kim's Author's Note, this was a book I absolutely could not put down. I fell in love with the Beaumonts, as well as Quincy, Beverly, and the Jones family, and their pain, as well as their triumphs, touched my heart. With masterful writing, an incredible storyline, and aspects of so many genres (including own voices, young adult, mystery, thriller, and romance), this book truly had it all, and it deserves every bit of five stars, and more.Thank you so much to author @kcjohnsonwrites for this incredible book (what an amazing debut for you!!!)! It has forever changed me, and if you haven't read or heard of it yet, please grab a copy ASAP! There is no doubt in my mind that this will be in my top 10 books for the year, and I can't wait to hear what other readers think. I also wholeheartedly believe this book should be on required reading lists for high schoolers. Kim, please let me know when you start working on your next book because I will be first in line to help get the word out!P.S. - Plese, please read the Author's Note at the end of this book! It is so informative and important!

This is My America is a novel that was published last year and is very timely with what was going on with our country. This is My America centers on Tracy and the Beaumont family. Seven years ago her father was convicted for double murder and sentenced to the death penalty; he is innocent and has only 267 days left, so his time is running out. Every week Tracy has written to Innocence X to try and receive help in her father’s case to no answer. Then the unexpected happens, a white girl is killed and Tracy’s brother Jamal is a suspect. And up to this moment he has never been in trouble with the law and had a very promising future. Jamal is on the run and now Tracy is determined to help both her father and now her brother.This is My America is Johnson’s debut novel and what a debut it is! It shows how incarnation affects every member of the convicted’s family and the injustices of African Americans. Johnson also shows us what it is like inside and visiting a convicted inmate in Texas. It also shows some history into the KKK and how that organization still exists today and what they can do. Johnson touches on so many important subjects and reaches her readers with very likable and enduring characters that you can’t help but feel emotions for.Written in short chapters, this is one novel you don’t want to put down as the reader becomes fully invested in the story and is rooting for Tracy to succeed in both her father and now brother’s cases. Be sure to read the author’s note at the end of the novel. Though Innocence X is a fictional organization, Johnson mentions actual organizations out there that work to free those wrongly convicted. I adore Tracy and her bravery at doing everything she can. She is a character that young girls could look up to.This is My America is one that needs to be read by all teens and touches on so many important subjects that our nation is dealing with more every day. This novel is up there with Dear Martin for me and may in fact even pass it in my reading. I cannot wait to see what Kim Johnson writes next!

This book is excellent, a must read for absolutely everyone. It is so well written, characters well developed, sharp and honest. There are so many thought provoking and informative facts weaved into this amazing book. Thank you Ms Johnson

Il libro era quello atteso, in ottime condizioni; i tempi di consegna sono stati un pò più dilatati rispetto al programmato