I think that the slew of books on the topics of racial justice and racial inequality by ownvoices authors are very important and I'm thankful I had the opportunity to read this one. It's billed as a combination of Dear Martin and Just Mercy and while I can't say for sure that this is true (I haven't read Just Mercy yet), I would imagine that's a very accurate description.

I found Kim Johnson's book to be extremely informative, well written and heartbreaking. Similarly, when I read Dear Martin a few months ago, I was reminded just how much racism and social justice are on the minds of our young people and what a burden they carry beyond the normal challenges of a teen in today's world. I thought this book did a phenomenal job of covering all that, while providing a deeply researched and educational format inside a YA fiction book. While I have no criticisms of this book (I don't really feel I'm qualified to judge regardless), I did enjoy Dear Martin a bit better. I thought this one read a little more YA (particularly towards the end) for me than Dear Martin did.

I highly recommend this for any young reader and I think it would be another wonderful addition to required school reading.

Thank you to Netgalley, Random House for Young Readers and Kim Johnson for the opportunity to read and provide an honest review.

Review Date: 10/09/2020
Publication Date: 07/28/2020

‘This Is My America’ by Kim Johnson is such a compelling and masterfully told story! It follows Tracy Beaumont, a 17 year old girl living in Texas, whose father is on death row. She is a strong and determined daughter who has been actively fighting to prevent his execution for years. Early on, Tracy’s older brother gets into serious trouble, which shifts Tracy’s focus into helping him and solving the mystery surrounding the crime he’s being blamed for. In Johnson’s writing, she examines the culture of the south and the criminal just system in the US, really illustrating the violence and inequalities POC still face in this country. I absolutely adored Tracy, her family, and her friends. I could not put this one down and it is one of my favorites of 2020!

Thank you so much Random House Children’s Books and NetGalley for providing this ARC.

Every week Tracy has been writing letters to Innocence X, a non-for-profit organization that helps those who are unjustly in jail for a crime they did not commit, on behalf of her father, who has been sentenced to death row in their home state of Texas and wrongfully accused of murder. With less than three hundred days, Tracy is in a race against time to free her father. Tracy holds on deeply to hope that her father will be exonerated and people will recognize failures in our justice system. As if this was not hard enough, Tracy and her family are thrown for a second loop when her older brother Jamal, a track star, is accused of killing his secret white girlfriend. Could these two cases be connected?
Weaving together gripping murder mysteries and a heartfelt narrative about a girl trying to save her family, Johnson explores the systemic, generational effects of police brutality, mass incarceration, and racism on the Black community. The discussion of racism, both explicit and implicit, are not sugar coated and will be poignant for many readers. My minor qualms of the novel is an unnecessary love triangle that is a bit distracting from the overall narrative. I also wanted a bit more discussion regarding the skeletons in the closet in regards to the big reveals in the book. Nonetheless, This is My America is timely, powerful, thought provoking, and Tracy is a budding activist who demands change.

This was such a moving story. Our main characters father was arrested and convicted for a crime just because of the color of his skin. In todays world this story I am sure rings true to so many people.

Our main characters main mission is to get this group to take on her dads case because he is on death row and only has about a month left to live. I felt the tension that this family was experiencing through out this who novel.

While I was reading this I thought about all of the people who must go through these feelings on a regular basis and it broke my heart. I think that this book was fantastically done and think that everyone should read it because the main message of fighting for what you believe in is so important.

This is My America was a suckered punch to the stomach. When I agreed to review this for netgalley and random house childrens book, I kinda knew it was going to be relevant to our current time but I didn't think it was going to be so heartbreaking. I am a 30 something white female, so I have zero idea what it is to be black in America. Kim Johnson gives you This is My America to feel some of those emotions, shows you the issues of being black in America and it is only a part of the issue. How one family's life was forever destroyed because of the color of their skin. How a father on death row for a murder he didnt commit. How his son is on the run for a murder he did not commit because he knows how it ended for his father. Can Tracy help them both before its too late? Pick this book up today because it is 1000% relevant today. Maybe it will change your opinion on what white privilege really is.

Powerful and poignant. This is my America arrived at the exact right time for the United States. Its a powerful story that i believe everyone should read

This was absolutely exceptional, especially for a debut novel. I had the pleasure of hearing the author speak during a few author panels and she was so humble and kind, but obviously very driven that her message reach the masses. And what a message it is. This book is a treatise on wrongful imprisonment, our broken justice system, racism in America, white supremacy, and how all of these aspects work together to create barriers in our society they are so very difficult to overcome. Also, don't skip the author notes on this one--Ms. Johnson takes you to school in 8 pages, and it's a school we all need to go to. Also, kudos to her for creating a character based on the brilliant Bryan Stevenson. And also kudos for the character of Beverly. I'm having a real hard time with cops right now (as I'm sure a good deal of us are) and it was so nice to see a bit of hope that it can get better. Reform is possible. Teachers, you couldn't find a better pairing to teach than this book and Just Mercy. Your kids will leave the classroom changed for the better and ready to influence their society and their future. I look towards the next generation to be the voice of reason we need in these trying times, but that doesn't mean I won't be doing what I can to lay a strong foundation. We can't quit and hope the kids are alright--we have to work with them.

I really enjoyed the mystery entwined in this novel which addresses the many relevant topics that of today. Racism, social injustice, reckless law and order are conversations that need to be shared with people of all ages and ethnicities. I thought it was brilliant for the author to include actionable items/workshops that could be taken from the book and transferred into the community. I couldn't help be reminded of the movie Just Mercy. While I don't feel as though the writing was complex, it definitely was effective in delivering the intended message.

Kim Johnson really knows how to tell a story. This is such a hard-hitting YA debut that relates to the things that are happening in the world today. This story explores the racism of today, the corrupt criminal justice system and the affect incarceration has on families. I don’t want to gush but… This book is worth the gushing factors. I highly recommend this book. The writing was so thoughtful and really inviting us into the lives of the Beaumont family. All black teens should read this book because I believe they will feel seen after reading this book. Defiantly a page-turner of activism in motion. This is a 5 star rating book and I want to thank Random House Children’s Books and Netgalley for the advance copy to give my honest opinion.

This Is My America is unfortunately an America that exists today. An America where justice comes to those who can financially afford it and innocence is based on skin color. Main character, Tracy Beaumont, is a teenager feverishly working to bring attention to her father's criminal case. James Beaumont, Tracy's father, is sitting on death row with less than 300 days left to live. Tracy is willing to risk everything to prove her father's innocence and help him gain his freedom. In the midst of dealing with her father's case, Tracy's older brother, Jamal, begins to have legal problems of his own that burdens the family with increased media scrutiny and racist attacks. This book is extremely relevant and a fictional masterpiece that captures the emotional turmoil that minority and poor families endure when their loved ones get caught up in the legal system of the United States.

This is My America by Kim Johnson is a racial justice who done it. From the first page, you are drawn to the main character Tracy Beaumont, a high school junior, who lives to do one thing -- exonerate her father. Her life revolves around convincing Innocence X to take her father’s case, leading “Know Your Rights” workshops at the local community center, and writing about social injustice in her high school newspaper. Her one-track focus on freeing her father is interrupted by a knock on the door by local police looking to arrest her brother Jamal for the murder of his white girlfriend. Armed only with a cellphone, Jamal spends much of the book trying to avoid arrest and working with Tracy and their friends to find proof of his innocence.

Johnson makes powerful connections between the racist beliefs, secrets, and traumas of the past and the bias, violence, and injustice that can destroy lives in the present. With the turn of each page, you learn that Tracy and her family are the victims of manipulation by racist forces in their community. It took several chapters for me to get drawn into the story, but once the investigative crumbs started to fall I was as committed as Tracy to find the truth.

I loved this. Once I started this I could not put it down. It was action-packed and kept me on the edge of my seat. This book was strong in every way except the romance. The romance was not very well developed. I wish it was not included at all. This still would have been a very impactful story even without the romance it would have done fine without it. All in all, this was an amazing book that deals with the topic of the broken justice system in America. I highly recommend it.

Best book of 2020. In a year when we were hit with a pandemic and protests across the country, Kim Johnson’s book should be a mandatory book for all HS students to read. A great in depth look at the history of white supremacy, the KkK, and how our justice system has failed black men and women for over a 100 years. Just a powerful story!!!

This is a terrific young adult read that brings headlines into a much more personal setting. I've been reading a lot of antiracist literature recently and I think This Is My America stands out as being a book that forces readers to think on an individual level about how the issues of race affect young people directly. Highly recommended.

Thanks Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. Oh MY GOD! This story just dug my heart out. I am literally emotionally drained... On several occasions I thought to myself, “if they don’t get justice, I’m going to lose the last bit of my shit!”. The constant revelations were overwhelming, I could feel the tension as their world crumbles but slowly comes back together. This book was a labor of love, a heart was broken and mended in the telling of this story. And everyone owes Johnson a round of applause for telling it. Incredibly powerful!

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.

Debut author Kim Johnson's new contemporary YA mystery novel is about social injustice in America. This Is My America is relevant, heartbreaking, and very powerful. This is a must-read novel that I will be recommending to everyone.

This is an important story I truly think everyone needs to read. Kim Johnson does a wonderful job portraying the injustices of our world today. This book will stay with me long after finishing it.

Another amazing book that points out all of the disgusting flaws in our American society. This book is a great YA starting point for anyone who wants to talk about racism with their teen. This is My America throws the realities of our police and prison systems into sharp relief and if you some how couldn’t see the flaws in these systems before there should be no unseeing them after reading this book. This is My America does not hold back. I absolutely loved the characters and Johnson’s writing. This story absolutely leapt off the page and kept me riveted to see how it was going to turn out.

Here’s a great review from an own voices reviewer: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3461022391

I want to say thank to NetGalley for a copy of this book for an honest review.

As a Black woman I felt like it was necessary for me to request this book, because this is what we face almost everyday. It shows the injustice we face in America today.
Tracy's father is in jail awaiting the death penalty for a crime and did not commit. Not only is she trying to her dad by writing to but to help him out of the death penalty, her brother Jamal also gets accused of a murder of a white girl.. Not knowing what to do and not wanting to face the same thing as his dad, Jamal run. Kim Johnson did an amazing job writing this book.