Riveting, relevant, important, captivating and a really great read! I loved the author’s notes and the further reading at the end of the book. I wish Mrs. Evans’ source character had been explained more. She was an interesting and pivotal character and I would love to know more about children raised under those types of traumatic mental abuse of witnessing murder(s?), tremendous hate, brainwashing, fear, repeated failure by authority figures, etc. Her character seemed written one-dimensionally, but it sounds as if she suffered similarly as Quincy as a child. I think Johnson did an excellent job of exploring so many different facets of issues and ramifications; Mrs. Evans is a perspective of the KKK I’ve never read before. Well done.

Loved this book! Unlike Just Mercy, this book gives you the perspective of how being an innocent man condemned to death row affects his family; especially his children. Do they know him? Do they keep believing and fighting or do they give up and give in? what happens when people see injustice and stay quiet? Are they complicit or just as guilty as the perpetrator? One of my favorite books of the year.

I thought I was ready for this one but I was not. It was a hard hitting, gut wrenching, white knuckle read. I was hooked from page one as the main character,Tracy, passionately fought to get her Dad's criminal convection looked into by an innocence-project group. She just knew that her Dad was innocent, only convicted because of his skin color. At the same time, her brother is wanted for questioning and possibly arrest for *allegedly* murdering a local white girl. I won't go into more detail because I want everyone to pick this one up and experience for themselves.

There was so much happening and the story was so complex but it was masterfully done. It was difficult to believe this was a debut story by this author. It felt and read as if the author had several books under their belt. Regardless, it was a tough topic to cover and not an easy read, but a necessary one. It's amazing that this story debuted at the time that it did. I am grateful I was given the opportunity to read this early. This will stay with me for a long time and I will be recommending to everyone.

‘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.’

‘THIS IS MY AMERICA is [Kim Johnson’s] debut novel. It explores racial injustice against innocent Black men who are criminally sentenced and the families left behind to pick up the pieces.’

THIS IS MY AMERICAN is not only a YA novel that I Highly Recommend, but I also feel it should be required reading in schools. This narrative teaches children and young adults that they too can make a difference and that their voices most definitely matter.

Thank you, NetGalley and Random House Children’s Books, for loaning me an eGalley of THIS IS MY AMERICA in exchange for an honest review.

I recently read This is My America because a reading list I am on for the Texas Library Association is considering it for our list for next year. This book is so relevant for what is going on in America right now. I think many students will be drawn to the circumstances that take place in this story.

Incredibly poignant. Tracey's voice and passion immediately draw the reader in and keeps the momentum going. After years of writing to Innocence X to ask them to take her father's case, the emotion and terror of the clock ticking down are palpable. The cast of side characters is important and well developed, none devolving into cliches. Although the overarching story is a heartbreaking one that happens all too often, I loved that the day-to-day lives of teenagers aren't overshadowed. Worries about college, the confusion over friendship versus love, and the difficulties of navigating changing relationships with parents are still present. Highly recommend this book for teens or adults who want a well-written, gripping, and timely read.

“A school shooter can come out alive but a Black kid in handcuffs on the ground can be shot, unchecked. An AK-47 in a white hand has more rights than a Black kid with skittles.”

Tracy Beaumont is an unyielding high school junior determined to prove her father’s innocence while he is on death row. Every week for seven years she writes letters to the organization Innocence X, who she hopes will one day assist in exonerating her beloved father. In her fight to bring her father home Tracy is met with another hurdle; her classmate was found dead and her brother Jamal is made the prime suspect. Now, she must work even harder to keep her family from falling apart. Tracy is a beacon in her community. She leads “Know Your Rights” workshops and writes about major issues in her column known as “Tracy’s Corner.” Even when faced with intimidation by police and white supremacists Tracy does not give up. She is passionate and resilient and works tirelessly to protect the ones she loves and to inform her community about safety precautions in the face of police and police brutality.

Johnson’s novel delves into what families are left with after one of their own has been taken by a corrupt justice system and threatens to take another. Other topics include interracial relationships and stigma, intergenerational trauma, white passivity and general complicity. The Beaumonts’ story takes place in Texas, a place where law enforcement has a malign history fraught with violence. Kim Johnson does not shy away from this history especially when considering the prejudice the Beaumonts face as Black Americans.

Her novel is an examination and mass incarceration and wrongful imprisonment. She crafts a beautifully woven piece full of hope that demands change that history dare not repeat itself. The character Tracy is a steadfast activist whom I adore and admire. The cast of secondary characters including Quincy, Corinne, Tasha, Dean, Steve and the teens’ parents all captured my heart with their own complexities and personal turmoil. This is My America was everything and more, I was left in complete shambles. This is one of the best novels I’ve ever read and I cannot stress its value.

(Pine Reads Review would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for providing us with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.)

TW: murder, off the page lynching (historical), racism, Black trauma, white nationalist groups, imprisoned parent

Rep: Black MC, Black cast

Disclaimer: I received an ARC via Netgalley, in exchange for my honest review. This does not affect my opinion. 


Jamal brushes her hair back. "Sometimes people do things that hurt because they think they're helping."


I had this book on my ARC shelf for a while, but I got sidetracked with library books, and honestly I am a little mad that I didn't read it sooner because this book was so damn good and it left me breathless! 

This Is My America highlights the unjust imprisonments of Black and brown people alike. This book is especially important right now with BLM movement, and how we need to fix the justice system that exists because it only works if you're white, and rich, as poor and BIPOC fall through the cracks and often times, gets sentenced on death row for something they didn't do. 

Much like THUG, Dear Martin-this book is a highlight of how unperfect America is, Black trauma and the unjust system that exists. But unlike those novel, this book talks about mass incarceration and how the 13th amendment provides the loophole needed to justify mass incarceration. 

But This Is My America also talks about 'nuclear family' and how Black people struggle with it, even after slavery. It also even talks about Black trauma and how Black people often do not have time to recover before another unjust killing, and also about how some cops are not corrupt and helps their community out just like they should. It even talks about interracial relationships that involves Black people and I really liked how it was discussed. 

I think this is also really important that I wish was discussed more in books. We all know white people are terrible, but this book also how generational trauma can affect white people and when they are raised as racist, and that's really important. Johnson does not shy away from anything and I love how this book is finally out in the world!

There are so many topics that was explored really well. I am not fully Black, and I have white privilege, but books like these are important and so are books that focuses on Black joy and we need those too. 

I loved the characters! Tracey was such a cool character who has a lot of strength and courage. She has a spot on the newspaper, but she's wanting to become an editor of the newspaper instead of just having a small little piece in the school's newspaper. She also wants to get her dad out of prison so she writes to Innocence X (Equal Justice Initiative in real life), so that they can take her dad's case. 

Until, the cops show up on their doorstep demanding to know where her brother, Jamal is, after he his accused of killing a white girl, Angela. And Tracey know has to figure out how to prove both her father's and brother's innocence. 

I also love how she runs a class in her neighborhood about knowing your rights when having an interaction with the police.

Whew, a tour de force from first time author Kim Johnson (with a top notch audiobook performed by Bahni Turpin). A fast paced, urgent, and compelling mystery through the lens of our country's baked-in racial inequality. The injustice for the Beaumount family shows rather than tells readers that the past is the present is the future and that history is living and constantly affects our society, our community, and people's everyday actions. This Is My America would be well paired in a classroom with the YA versions of Just Mercy or We are Not Yet Equal. This is one of my top reads of 2020 and I'll definitely be getting a book set for the library and recommending to students and teachers. I feel confident this will also show up on the 2021 Project Lit list!

Seven years earlier Tracy’s father was sentenced to death. As a black man in America, it doesn’t matter that he had an alibi for the time when his business partners were murdered. Tracy writes letters to Innocence X, a group of lawyers she hopes will help her father appeal his case. When Tracy’s brother is suspected of murdering a classmate, Tracy must race to clear his name while also trying to save her father’s life.

This is a powerful, raw story that every reader, regardless of age, could benefit from reading. The American justice system is deeply flawed. It does not treat everyone equally and Americans need to confront that reality.

Although marketed as a young adult book, I think this book would also be appropriate for middle school readers.

Thank you to Random House for sharing an eARC with #BookAllies in exchange for an honest review.

Tracy Beaumont’s father, James, has been on living death row for seven years in Polunsky Prison in Texas. He was unjustly arrested and convicted for a murder he did not commit. Tracy is driven to prove her father’s innocence and has been writing diligently to Innocence X, a pro bono legal firm, to take on James’s appeal of his case.

Now her brother, Jamal, a high school track star, has been accused of murdering a white girl, and Tracy is determined to find out who the real murderer is. Jamal is hiding out, afraid to be in police custody, and the police are desperately searching for him. Time is running out for Tracy because her father has less than a year left on death row, and with every day that passes, it looks worse for Jamal.

Tracy has a feeling that the two murders might somehow be connected, but she will need to use her investigative and journalistic skills to prove it. She will need to be extra cautious; her family is living in a town where racism and prejudice have been going on for centuries and have even infiltrated the police department.

Kim Johnson’s debut novel delves into many different social themes that are prevalent in today’s society. She skillfully manages to tie together prejudice, racism, social justice, history, and activism and combine them into a suspenseful mystery that will keep readers guessing until the story’s end.

Through her characters, the author is able to show how fear, hatred, and intimidation have fueled racism among the citizens and law enforcement officers in her town. She also weaves in facts about the Texas prison system and highlights flaws within the U.S. justice system and its effect upon Black Americans.

Ms. Johnson has drawn on her experiences as an activist and has used those to her advantage in writing her first novel. Hand This Is My America to fans of Angie Thomas, readers who enjoy social justice stories, and lovers of crime novels. I highly recommend it for high school and public libraries.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read and review a copy of this book.

Seventeen year old Tracy Beaumont’s father is an innocent man on death row. She takes it upon herself to write to a legal organization that specializes in cases like his, begging them to help. Then, the unthinkable happens. Her older brother Jamal is suspected of killing a white girl and goes into hiding from the police. Tracy, the journalist in her, starts looking for answers and uncovers some ugly secrets.

I went into this book with my expectations sky high, but this book surpassed them all. This story is phenomenal! Not only is it well written, but it is so timely and covers so many issues. It’s a compelling read that left me speechless. Fantastic debut. P.S. The author’s note is a must read.

Thank you Random House Childrens and NetGalley for my gifted copy

This Is My America by Kim Johnson should be required reading. It's a fit for classrooms and book clubs alike. This YA debut has no right to be this good, but we are so lucky it is.

Tracy Beaumont has spent the last seven years writing to Innocence X to compel them to take her father's death row case. Her father has less than 300 days to live for a crime she's convinced he did not commit. That's dire enough when tragedy strikes the family again when her brother Jamal is accused of killing a white female classmate.

Tracy, disenchanted with the criminal justice system, takes matters into her own hands as an investigative journalist to try and prove the innocence for her family in this thought-provoking, timely, and engaging story.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book. All thoughts are my own.

This Is My America by Kim Johnson was a great read. I featured it as Book of the Day on all my social media platforms.

A stunning, painful, beautiful read.

Tracy's father has been on death row for seven years, convicted of a crime he didn't commit. His friend and business partner fared even worse – equally innocent, he was killed by the police at the time of his arrest. Both men were targeted, accused, and convicted because they're Black, and their Texas town doesn't trust people with their skin colour.

Now, just days after her brother sets records for Track and Field, he is accused of the murder of a white classmate; the strongest evidence against him are his father's conviction, and his own fear of the police.

Tracy is fighting desperately to clear the name of both men, before either of them can be killed by the American justice system that has so monumentally failed them.

This is a very raw book, that takes on systemic racism, judicial bias, police violence, hate crimes, and white nationalism. Unlike similar books that I've read, however, it's not written down to the reader. Tracy is an empowered teenager, drawn to investigative journalism and community education. She leads monthly de-escalation workshops, training her Black friends and neighbors in what they can do, as probably victims, to reduce the likelihood of police violence. She draws strong personal boundaries, refusing to become caretaker of the feelings and needs of more fragile white people in her circles. She has tried everything in her power to work within the current justice systems to set things right.

And these systems fail her. Over and over and over.

Like every book this summer, this was written in a time before our current dialogue on defunding the police. It does occasionally dip into the realm of "a good cop." However, unlike many of the white-authored books I've recently read with this concept, this book explores how troublesome and nuanced this concept can be.

While there is at least one cop who has embedded herself in this system with hopes of fixing things from the inside, it's clear that she is is struggling to protect even her own family from the dangers of police violence – leaving it to the reader to decide whether change from within can ever be possible. Within the world of this book, my take remains "no;" this character has created special protections for those within her own circle, but this does not address the question of how to protect entire communities.

The cast of this book is entirely Black and white. While I'd typically argue that any Texan community will have a large Latinx contingent, this book was very full with its focus on specific power dynamics of Black and white communities, as well as cops and white supremacist hate groups. It's already a lot to tackle, leaving little space for conversations about what it is like to be a non-Black person of color in America. I'd love to read more from Kim Johnson, as I have no doubt she has more to say about how American identities intersect and conflict.

To me this is very much a book about reclaiming America, about Tracy's self-appointed empowerment, and what she can do to make this country hers.

Highly highly recommend this one. I think everyone should be reading this book right now.

This is my America is an important distinctive read that needs to be taught in schools. This book may be a work of fiction, but it brings out many facts about social injustice, racism across different mediums, police brutality and the fault in the justice system!!

Its true what the description says. This book is the best of The Hate You Give + Just Mercy. A must read.

Thank You Random House, Netgalley and Kim Johnson for the ARC. This review is my own and is not influenced in any way!

A tough but timely book about a high school girl struggling through life on the timeline of her father’s impending execution. There are some strong parallels with The Hate U Give and I think these would be excellent companion books to provide a baseline of perspective on the reality of being a Black youth in America. I struggled a bit with the ending, finding it more positive than reality seems to allow; however the author’s notes at the end explain that and left me feeling like this powerful book warned its 5 stars from me.

Thanks to the publisher for providing an ARC through Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

Disclaimer: I received this e-arc from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: This Is My America

Author: Kim Johnson

Book Series: Standalone

Diversity: BIPOC main character and side characters

Rating: 5/5

Recommended For...: BIPOC books, ownvoice novels, social justice books

Publication Date: July 28, 2020

Publisher: Random House Children’s Books

Pages: 416

Recommended Age: 16+ (language, violence, police brutality TW, slight gore)

Synopsis: 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?

Fans of Nic Stone and Jason Reynolds won’t want to miss this provocative and gripping debut.

Review: This book was so fantastic! There’s a lot of components that are amazing about this book and I think that this should be taught in schools. The book did well to breakdown racism and how White people, across all mediums, do racist things subconsciously and intentionally. There was a news segment in which the main character broke down how the segment was racist in how it portrayed her brother. The news segment used a photo that made the brother look like a criminal rather than what news media uses for White people, which is usually a family photo or graduation photo, even if the White person did an unspeakable act and they don’t contest their guilt. The book also showed the bias reporting of media, showing that while Jackson Ridges was murdered by police when he resisted arrest, the news reported it as just that he died, implying he died by means other than police brutality. The book also showed trial bias and presented facts that Black Americans do not get a fair trial the majority of the time. The book showed her father being sentenced by an all-white jury, which should not have happened but unfortunately does, and shows how the court will unfavorably treat Black people in terms of the amount of evidence needed to be presented to concluded that a person is guilty. The book also had very accurate facts about prison systems, especially about private or for-profit prison systems and how they operate. Many prison systems have staff that will retaliate against an inmate’s family for things the inmate has done or the things that the family has spoken out about. The book was not only factual, but also gut wrenching. The scenes with police brutality, especially when Tracy, our main character, has a gun pointed at her when she is in an area the police are investigating, and with the racist actions of the towns people are devastating and hard to read, but are very important to read about. The author doesn’t shy away from the hard truths of what being Black in America really means in this book. This is a hard read, but a worthy read and should be taught in schools.

If I had to point out an issue, I’d say that, while not an issue, I would like to see the aftermath of what happens when an inmate is released from confinement and I would have liked to see how the family planned to sue the county for retribution from the grievance caused to them.

Verdict: A must read.

If you're a fan of contemporary YA, you've almost definitely heard of this book. You've probably also heard people talking about how amazing it is, how inspiring but also sad and also scary. You've heard people talk about how fantastic and relentless Tracy is, the way that she writes every week to Innocence X to get them to take on her father's case before his execution in under a year. And chances are you've been burned by hype before; we all have.

But this book? It's better than everyone says. (We're not underselling it on purpose; it's just that I don't think most people could do it justice. I certainly can't.)

There's a lot going on here. There's a mystery involving Tracy's brother (who is being blamed for a murder) and what's going on with her dad's case, and the way that she and her family are treated since her dad was convicted of a different murder. (SPOILER: It's not great treatment, and it gets a lot worse when her brother becomes a suspect.)

These are easy things to discuss. What's harder to quantify are the undertones here. There's the trauma that Tracy feels, having seen her father being violently arrested. There's the fear that she feels (because if something major doesn't happen, he'll be executed. And every day that goes by makes his death more likely because even if she CAN get someone to look at the case, it will require as much time as possible). And now there's the fear that she feels for her brother, Jamal.

And there are so many other layers, all of which I'm desperate to discuss with people. (This is going to come up on our podcast and at my book clubs.) It's impossible not to read this for plot, because it's incredibly gripping. But I also had to keep stopping so I could catch everything else going on, too. This is a masterpiece of a novel, and I hope that Kim Johnson becomes an incredibly prolific author. I need everything she will ever write immediately or sooner.

Highly recommended.

I didn't need to hear much about this book to be interested in it. Normally all I needed was the pitch, and I added it to my TBR. And now that I've read it, I can honestly say, this needs to be required reading in schools. Anything less than 5 stars is unacceptable.
Tracy Beaumont's dad is in prison serving a death sentence. She's been writing tirelessly Innocence X to get him a fair trial because she knows there's no way he could have done the heinous things the police said he did. But they won't answer her. And then her brother is caught up in a murder that makes it look like he'll be next behind bars. Now Tracy must find a way to clear both her brother and her dad's name, all before her dad's time runs out.
The first thing I liked about this book was the setting. I read that it was set in Galveston, County and I was literally gasped out loud. I grew up there! I do wish we had seen some actual legit Galveston places. But I understand that no one realizes that it wasn't real except someone who's from there, so I ignored that.
I LOVED the characters. Tracy was a BOSS. She was so smart, determined, and focused. It was amazing to see how she wasn't scared and didn't take no shit. She knew the facts and she stuck to what she knew. She didn't let anyone change her mind. I hope teens that read this will see how she spoke out for justice and do the same. I also hope they take her workshops to heart, because they can definitely help ALL people of color.
I also loved the ending. There was another way this could have gone, and let me just say, I was expecting it to go that way. But this way was unexpected. I think the thing that popped up was a great way to do it because any other way it wouldn't have been believable. Sad to say, but it's the truth.
As for the writing style, are we sure this was Johnson's first book? I was HOOKED from page one! I admit, I did have to take some breaks here and there because the subject matter hit too close to home, but I knew it was going to be hard going in, so I powered through. There are some things that need to be edited (like I'm waiting on the outrage that will occur if they don't change that A&M Orange lmfao) but I'm hoping that's just because I read an ARC. Otherwise, I thought it was almost perfect.
In the same thought as the last paragraph, this whole novel is an example of why #OwnVoices novels are important. No one else could have written this novel with the same care and real life experiences that Johnson had. There is no amount of research in the world that can show you how to write a Corinne with so much innocence, or a Mrs. Beaumont with such strength to keep going in the midst of hard times. These aren't things you'll find through research. You have to LIVE these types of experiences.
There is so much to say about this book, but I still fear I have not done it justice. (No pun intended lol) I can't wait until more of you have read this book! It needs to be talked about and read by everyone, not just the Black community.