American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely
ISBN: 9781481463331
Atheneum Books for Young Readers, New York, 2015
Plot Summary: Rashad is a decent student and a member of ROTC who hasn’t stepped outside of the law except for some drinking at parties with his friends. But the only thing that matters to the cops is the color of his skin, which is black. When a misunderstanding at the local convenience store occurs on a Friday night Rashad finds himself being brutally beaten by a white cop who calls him a thug and fabricates his resistance to arrest. Quinn is one of the stars of the basketball team and a good student trying to get a scholarship because his mother has to work long hours to keep their family afloat after his father was killed in Afghanistan. Guzzo is one of his best friends and his brother, Paul, stepped up to help take care of him after the death of Quinn’s father. When he sees Paul viciously beating a black kid around his age he can’t believe the rage on Paul’s face and dashes so he doesn’t have to be involved. As the news leaks out their school becomes a warzone of those supporting Rashad and those supporting Paul. Quinn is torn as he knows what happened to Rashad was wrong, but he doesn’t want to ruin his own life by getting involved.
Critical Evaluation: Having two unique voices, written by different people gives the novel an organic feeling when it comes to providing diverse voices for the narrative on a very sensitive issue, police brutality in America. The plot is driven by the psychological struggle that stems from being a part of such a savage event and it is very different for each boy. Rashad’s character has to struggle with becoming the face of a movement that has been sweeping the nation and the fact that if you dress a certain way while being black instantly attaches a stereotype to you, even within your own family. It is a large burden and the portrayal of his unease of being in the spotlight is genuine. His interaction with his father and Mrs. Fitzgerald is a believable catalyst to make him move to embracing his new status and overcoming a tiny portion of his fear that enables him to use his statue to try to invoke change in his community.
Quinn on the other hand has to deal with the psychological struggle of reconciling the picture he had of someone that was a defacto big brother in his mind with one of a man that is capable of great violence. The secondary character of Jill is beautifully placed in Quinn’s life as a cousin of Paul that is willing to stand up for what she believes in even if it means betraying her family. Her courage is used to push Quinn into questioning his decision to stay silent and truly examine the type of man he believes himself to be. The tiny pushes that he receives through observing the actions of others slowly allows him to speak out against racism even if it could ruin everything he has been building towards which is the way change tends to naturally occur in a person.
Reader’s Annotation: Two teenagers- one black, one white- are bound together when Quinn witnesses Rashad being savagely beaten a cop who is also his defacto big brother. This book leads the reader through an emotional journey as each boy has to figure out their feelings about racism in America.
Author Biography: Author information retrieved from Simon and Schuster. http://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Jason-Reynolds/403685768 and http://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Brendan-Kiely/408865698
Jason Reynolds is crazy. About stories. He is a New York Times bestselling author, a National Book Award Honoree, a Kirkus Award winner, a Walter Dean Myers Award winner, an NAACP Image Award Winner, and the recipient of multiple Coretta Scott King honors. His debut novel was When I Was the Greatest and was followed by Boy in the Black Suit and All American Boys (cowritten with Brendan Kiely); As Brave As You; Jump Anyway; and the first two books in the Track series, Ghost and Patina. You can find his ramblings at JasonWritesBooks.com.
Brendan Kiely is the New York Times bestselling author of All American Boys (with Jason Reynolds), The Last True Love Story, and The Gospel of Winter. His work has been published in ten languages, received a Coretta Scott King Author Honor Award, the Walter Dean Myers Award, the Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award, was twice awarded Best Fiction for Young Adults (2015, 2017) by the American Library Association, and was a Kirkus Reviews Best Books of 2014. Originally from the Boston area, he now lives with his wife in New York City. Tradition (forthcoming May 2018) is his fourth novel.
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Curriculum Ties: Social Issues
Book Talking Ideas: A longer book talk could be the pairing of this book with another piece of fiction or non-fiction that deal with racism in America with a focus on the stereotyping of people who wear “thug” clothing.
How does Rashad and Quinn’s journey to find their own voice mirror each other and how are they different?
Reading Level/ Interest Age: 8th-12th grade/ 12+
Challenge Issues: Violence, Drinking, Language
Challenge Resources:
- Handout of the ALA’s Library Bill of Rights and Right to Read
- Know your library’s collection development policy and have a copy of it on hand. Being able to show how this book fits the necessary requirements for purchase will give you a leg to stand on.
- Have both positive and negative reviews from sources such as SLJ, VOYA, Booklist, Kirkus Review, Common Sense Media, Publishers Weekly, Hornbook, and Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books.
- Be familiar with the material. If you have not read the book mention this in your conversation and ask for time to review it and invite the patron back for a more in-depth conversation once you have been able to look it over thoroughly.
- Be prepared to cite any awards the book has won.
- Have a rationale prepared on why the book enhances your library’s collection and be able to offer alternative titles on the same subject that might be less controversial.
- Stay calm while talking with the patient and practice active listening skills. The patron might calm down if they are allowed to air their grievance.
- Have a copy of the Request for Reconsideration of Library Materials form handy as a last resort and be able to explain the process to the patron.
Why I picked this book: This book was part of the assigned reading for the young adult materials course. However outside of that I would pick this book to add to the collection as it provides a look at racism and social injustice from diverse perspectives which is lacking from other options that expand upon this topic. It allows this book to touch on the silent racism that happens in so many communities and shines light on an issue that readers may not have even realized existed. On top of that this book is a Coretta Scott King Honor book, the 2016 winner of the Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award and received multiple starred reviews.
Kate Daigle's Mini Collection 