This is My America is an incredibly timely story that should be on every library and classroom shelf. Like The Hate U Give, this book will connect to readers and represent teens who feel like they've never been seen before. The story is perfectly paced and suspenseful. A blend of social justice and YA thriller, this novel will keep readers turning pages.

This book is certainly being released at the time for it to make a maximum impact.

Tracy is rightfully obsessed with getting her dad off of death row. After all, he has less than a year, and her family doesn't have anything left to fund an appeal.

Jamal, her track star brother, gives her a chance to appear on national TV, and she steals his spotlight while hoping to attract a lawyer, leading to tension in the family. And then the police show up in the middle of the night, looking to arrest Jamal for murder.

This book delves into what it means to dig into your past, as well as what the "justice" system actually looks like for Black people.

There is a lot for teachers to use in this title, especially paired with non-fiction titles like The New Jim Crow or Just Mercy, or other fiction titles like Dear Martin, The Hate you Give, or The Black Kids.

Oh my, where to begin... this book is brilliant! I kept abandoning my family and my to-do list in favor of a few more pages of this wonderful book. "This is My America" is a timely reminder of the failures of the American justice system and the steps we still need to take to do better. At the same time it is a compulsively readable mystery with romance, family, and secrets. Packaged all together - you will have a difficult time putting this one down.

Tracy is a high school junior in Galveston County, Texas. She is a columnist for her school paper and leads workshops in the community related to social justice. She is part of a tight-knit, loving family, but she only gets to see her dad once or twice a week because he is on death row in Texas penitentiary for a crime he didn't commit. Tracy writes weekly to Innocence X in the hopes of attaining their help to turn over his wrongful conviction before it is too late; Tracy's father's sentence is to be carried out in about 9 months. Then, as if things weren't already looking grim for the family, Tracy's older brother is accused of a violent crime against a local girl and is on the run. Tracy immediately knows something is fishy about the situation and starts digging into what really happened with the help of her friends. But, their investigation digs up some secrets it seems some members of the small town will do anything to keep buried. Tracy can only hope she finds enough to help her brother and hopefully still get help to save her dad.
P.S. Be sure to read through Kim Johnson's terrific acknowledgements for a great list of further reading and resources used in the writing of the book.

Don't wait to get your hands on this beautiful book! Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Children's for an ARC of this title in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this novel.

This is one powerful book, guys. It's been a few months since I've read it, but it has stayed with me since, especially in light of what is going on now.

Tracy is a high school student who is trying to get Innocence X to re-evaluate her father's case for a crime he didn't commit. He is sitting on death row with only so many months and Tracy is desperate. At the same time, her brother is also accused of a crime Tracy is sure he wasn't apart of.

I could not put this book down. It captured my attention from the very first chapter and was a fast paced story from the very beginning. There were so many twists and turns, and they were executed perfectly. Johnson doesn't hold back on the injustices African Americans face, especially when it comes to crime. I've also got to note that everyone should read her acknowledgments. Johnson recommended so many other books that deal with a lot of different topics and I've added most of them to my TBR pile.

This is the book that I did not know I needed. It is as if this was destined to come about/release during this time of high racial tensions. Kim Johnson does a phenomenal job of breathing life into the characters of the book. This follows the story of teenager, Tracy Beaumont (shout out to Texas), her father on death row, her brother who was athlete-turned-suspect, and several others. Tracy was set to work with a fellow student, Angela, on an exposé, but Angela's death put an abrupt halt to it. As a result, Tracy is having to take on additional tasks to prove her brother's innocence, plead for her father to be taken off death row and exonerated, while having to deal with the realities of being Black in a neighborhood/school that caters to the white citizens. As a native-Houstonian, I can easily put myself in the position of the characters, and it broke my heart/allowed me to feel their emotions.

This is My America highlights the realities of Black people around the country, as we are guilty until proven innocent. Several men, women, and children are unjustly arrested, convicted, and sentenced to death (despite lack of evidence) simply because of their background/the color of their skin. This book hit me hard in a way that so many other books have not. I will make it a point to bring this into the classroom, because this is a book that the Black Youth in America needs. As a secondary teacher, there is not one student that I have taught that knows their rights or what to do when they approached by police. This book motivated me to organize sessions/lessons for students to know their rights and what to do in particular situations. I know there is no way that I could not keep this book on my bookshelves.

This book was amazing! This book follows Tracy who is on a mission to free her dad who is on death row for murder and he is innocent. This book is one I couldn't put down and everyone needs to read. This book sheds a big ass light on what we are living in the US.

5 Stars I would give more if I could.

Thank you to the publisher for this arc in exchange for my honest opinion

This is a must-read, especially in our current political climate. A perfect book that brings to light the truths of what happens when society thinks so little of black people and so highly of police officers. The paragraphs and conversations about race, class, and justice are phenomenal. Kim Johnson brings the conversations to the forefront and refuses to shy away from the truth.

As someone who lives in Texas, I think that this is a fair representation of small towns. There are usually only a few black people in these towns and they are looked at as a circus act. I think that the KKK and white supremacy groups were a necessary aspect to this novel because Texas has a lot of people who think like that and take actions to try and make the world more white.

I also felt that the romantic dynamic was very well thought out. The fact that Tracy struggles with possibly being with a white boy is very realistic and her fears are valid. Although it almost felt like a love triangle between Dean and Quincy, I think it was a very real portrayal of having to choose sides. In the midst of Tracy's traumatic teenage years, she is not only having to try and save her family from a corrupt police department, but she is also trying to figure out if she could be more than friends with a white boy or does she choose to be with a boy who understands the experience of being black and will not question the way she goes about things when it comes to the law.

This was a novel that I will not soon forget. It is powerful, important, and a conversation starter.

Really good necessary read in the present climate.

Tracy tries to find help for her wrongly imprisoned father while falling in love with a white boy and learning the dark history of the community in which they both live. Trying to navigate the challenges of present and past clashing, her brother gets caught up in it, too.

Looking for justice, peace and love - Tracy's story is one that unfortunately rings true to many today.

What Kim Johnson manages in This is My America is to blend the Nancy Drew and One of Us is Lying mysteries with topics of actual substance.

Tracy Beaumont writes Innocence X every week attempting to get them to take her father’s case and save him for him death sentence, which is less than a year away. In the midst of this all, someone else close to her gets caught up in a new murder.

Race with Tracy as she fights to save her family and begins to uncover dark secrets about her town and people she knows. Along the way, the reader also gets schooled in the work covered in Just Mercy, white supremacy, and the rise, or maybe just the newly public, of hate in America. This is one you can’t put down!

Perfect to pair in a classroom with Just Mercy.

This was an amazing read that gave me chills. A murder mystery that puts the spotlight on systemic racism and mass incarceration while exploring the hideous affects of white supremacy in a small town. The relationships and character development are dynamic and well thought out. Tracy, the teenage narrator, uses her investigative journalist skills to exonerate her father of a murder she knows he didn't commit. I found myself both terrified for her while cheering her on (and angered that she couldn't go to the police).
I read this book over a couple of days and couldn't put it down for the final 40%.
The author's note at the end is well worth reading.

WOW. I don't cry with books or even get emotional, but this one almost brought me to tears. This Is My America is a raw, unflinching look at how the criminal justice system is not set up to help Black Americans, especially those incarcerated. This book looks at the toll that takes on Black families and Black communities when their loved ones are sent away into a prisoner system that relies on keeping them there, and how dire this becomes if you happen to be in a state that still has the death penalty. Tracey is a determined character that, being that she's only seventeen, still has her insecurities and doubts. She's scared for her family and herself, but it's the literal fear of death and grief that pushes her to save those she loves most. It's inspiring because there are so many Black children in America who have seen their parents and loved ones swallowed up into a system that, if it frees them, spits them back out broken, and these children have to keep on living their lives and going to school and looking towards the future. This story will also (hopefully) make you angry because there should be no reason for innocent, non-violent people to end up in a prisoner system and forgotten about and then, depending on the state, patiently awaiting their death date. This should not be the reality for any child in any country, yet here we are.

This book isn't normally the kind of book I'd reach for, but I loved every second of it. The book was very powerful and much needed in these times. I felt the way the author conveyed emotions in this book was perfect and I felt everything the characters in the book felt. It was deep and meaningful and definitely a powerful book I would recommend to anyone.

With the state of this country today, I was skeptical about reading this book without feeling prejudices already going on around me. With that being said,

Tracy Beaumont is a 17 year old black girl fighting to save her father from death row. He's been in jail for 7 years on a double murder that he swears he and his partner Jackson Ridges did not commit. Jackson was killed b the police while trying to take him in, his son Quincy also was shot. His daughter Beverly is now a police officer on the same force that killed her father 7 years prior. All of this is very important as it ties into the next leg of the story

Tracy is the middle child. Her older brother Jamal and her younger sister Corrine are all affected by her father's incarceration. Tracy is her father's advocate as far as getting him a lawyer to help appeal his conviction. Her brother Jamal is a track star who gets in trouble for murder of a fellow classmate named Angela. While trying to clear her brother's name, Tracy uncovers some horrible truths about people that she thought she knew.

Legal injustice, racism, family strength, love, pain, passion all can be found on the pages of this book. I absolutely loved how the author penned this tale. It keeps up with current injustice with police and African Americans. It paints the strength of a determined young woman, a young black woman who refuses to give up on family. #BOM #BlackFamiliesMatter!

In her debut novel, Kim Johnson is about to enter the list of vaunted YA authors who deal honestly on issues of race with American youth of today (think Jason Reynolds, Angie, Thomas, Nic Stone). Set in a small Texas town and the world of high school, the protagonist, Tracy Beaumont, is a burgeoning school journalist with a tight-knit family, scarred by their past, and a father who has spent years on Death Row. When the editor of their school newspaper is found murdered, the entire ugly cauldron of racism, police violence towards Black people, and the prejudice found in the microcosm of school, all erupt as Tracy's brother runs for his life while she must find answers to save her family. I raced through this book, admiring the research put into it and the credible characters she creates. Highly highly recommend adding to your TBR list.

Tracy Beaumont is desperate for Innocence X to take her dad's case. She knows he is innocent of the crime for which he was convicted because he was home the entire night. But when fingers were pointed his way, the police did little to investigate what really happened. Seven years later, and her dad's execution is only 267 days away. She has written letter to Innocence X for most of those years and refuses to give up hope now. When her brother is accused of killing one of their classmates, it is easy for every one to say the son of a convicted murderer is clearly capapble of doing the same. Tracy knows that just like their father, Jamal is innocent. But how can she prove they both deserve more grace than they have been given?

Kim Johnson's writing fills another hole in YA literature that has been in desperate need of filling. I appreciate the way she approaches these serious topics of false imprisonment, racism in the criminal justice system, and a bevy of other social justice concerns. I believe that teens and adults alike will benefit from reading This Is My America. I will absolutely be recommending it to my students!

This is a powerful read and so necessary for our current landscape. Highly recommended for everyone. RTC.

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This is My America by Kim Johnson
by RICKI on JUNE 25, 2020 · LEAVE A COMMENT · in ASKING QUESTIONS, AUTHOR'S PURPOSE/PERSPECTIVE/BIAS, BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE, CHARACTERIZATION, CLASSROOM LIBRARY BUY, CLOSE READING/ANALYSIS, COMPARE/CONTRAST, CONFLICT, DIALOGUE, FORESHADOWING, LITERATURE CIRCLE/BOOK CLUBS, MULTICULTURAL, NOVEL, REALISTIC FICTION/CONTEMPORARY FICTION, THEME, VOICE [EDIT]
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This is My America
Author: Kim Johnson
Published: February 28, 2017 by Balzer + Bray

GoodReads Summary: Dear Martin meets Just Mercy in this unflinching yet uplifting YA novel that explores the racist injustices in the American justice system.

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 is a book that will stick with me forever. The characters are powerfully written, and the plot unfolds itself beautifully. It tackles complex themes that offer excellent fodder for classroom discussion. Some of these include implicit and explicit racism, the ripple effects of White supremacy and racism, White privilege, and injustices in the judicial system. I could go on. This book is truly exceptional, and I envision it winning some big awards this year. There is so much to unpack and so much to admire in Johnson’s writing. It’s absolutely brilliant. If you buy no other book this summer, buy this one. It will make you think deeply about equity and justice.

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: I highlighted so many passages of this book while I was reading it. There are so many sections that would make phenomenal close readings in the classroom. I highly recommend pairing this text with portions or all of Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness.

Discussion Questions: What are some of the injustices in this text?; How can we, as a society, work to change these injustices?; How do the injustices have a ripple effect on other characters?; How does Johnson layer the plot to elevate the reading and message of the text?

Flagged Passage: “Corinne never held that memory [of Daddy getting arrested], but I know she feels it in everything we breathe. It’s in the polite nods across the street we have to make, the way our family turns down our music when there are others around. Say yes ma’am and no sir. Leave our jackets and backpacks in the car when we go shopping.

It’s in the way I carry myself that tells our story now. I can’t risk being accused of anything. Because if something goes wrong or missing, I know it’s in the back of someone’s mind that maybe I had something to do with it. And it’s in the way that the voice of the strongest woman I know stumbles when saying, ‘Hello, Officer’ as she walks through the visitation gates to see Daddy.”

Read This If You Loved: Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson; The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas; All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely; X by Ilyassah Shabazz and Kekla Magoon; The Rock and the River by Kekla Magoon; How it Went Down by Kekla Magoon; Freedom Summer by Deborah Wiles;

Recommended For:

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Ricki

This is My America caught my attention because of the title and that cover. It felt like a story that would be similar to some of the struggles between my own country and the US. The book is incredible.

Thank you to Net Galley for the chance to read Kim Johnson's debut This is My America prior to it's July 28th release date.

Wow. This book was powerful and very, very relevant to today's world.

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

This book hit my heart like it is supposed to. It brought out strong emotions like courage and remorse. Books are powerful. Their family got answers and justice after 7 years. I hope every family can get those things one day. The definition of a relevant book during these times.