Thank you to NetGalley for my copy of this book. There are a lot of emotions and thoughts about this book, and I'm not entirely sure if I'll be able to express them clearly. What I can say though is this: Everyone needs to read this. It is a very important story that has the potential to deeply affect each reader. There are senses of both hope and sadness, and no punches were pulled for this story.

Dark. Complicated, twisted and turny. Loved this cutting edge coming of age. I will tell everyone I can to read thisbook! !

From only reading the first chapter of this book I knew it was going to be a favorite for mine, One of the Good Ones by Maika Moulite and Maritza Moulite was an incredible read. Aside from the incredible representation within the story. The authors writing was absolutely incredible and captivating. The writing pulled me in the story write away. I found it was hard to put the book down at times. I wanted to know more with each page I read.

I loved how it was written in three POV's of the three main characters: Kezi, who is a teenage, known to be a social justice activist who is killed under mysterious circumstances at a police station. Happi, who is Kezi's sister, who is left reeling uncontrollably after Kezi’s death. Lastly we have Shaqueria, who is an aspiring actress who has moved to LA to catch her big break and escape the foster system. i found it interesting seeing the different sides to these characters as the story unfolded

the authors handled the important topics within the story very well especially with regards to politics and the detrimental impact it can have. Overall these story was beautiful

I have purchased two copies of this for my classroom library. While I am not currently using it, I am looking for a replacement for The Hate U Give and it very well might be this book.

This book was great. And then I hit the twist and it became amazing! I would highly recommend this book to my teens and to adults who read ya.

My Thoughts:
In chapters that switch between narrators, as well as travels in a non linear fashion moving from before and after the arrest as well as a confluence of past family trauma and current grief, One of the Good Ones is a road trip between grief and healing. 18 year old Kezi is the golden child and activist. Happi is the disconnected youngest sister. When Kezi is killed while in police custody, older sister Genny drags happi and Kezi's best friends Ximena and Derek on a last road trip, planned by Kezi. They route has been planned by Kezi for months prior to her death using a copy of the Green Book that takes the four of them along Route 66 and Sun Down towns that were often deadly Black people in America.

Like all good road trips, this book more about what each character learns about themselves and their connection to the road and each other than any final destination. It is both social commentary and growing up black in America.

This is not a newly published or pre published book. It actually came out in January of 2021, but it has been in my TBR pile long enough for me to forget the premise of this book. Perhaps the title or the cover did not catch my eye. However, there is an author's note about the title. If I had read it earlier, I would have moved it up on my pile. Here it is:


From Author Note:

We chose the title One of the Good Ones because it’s something that “well-intentioned” people say all the time without realizing how harmful it is. “One of the good ones” is usually code for a person our country deems worthy. That importance is usually tied to level of education, income, class, zip code, gender identity, and sexual orientation. If most or all of those acceptable boxes are checked, then we care… There is no allotment for who deserves justice and who does not.



From the Publisher:
A shockingly powerful exploration of the lasting impact of prejudice and the indomitable spirit of sisterhood that will have readers questioning what it truly means to be an ally, from sister-writer duo Maika Moulite and Maritza Moulite, authors of Dear Haiti, Love Alaine.

ISN’T BEING HUMAN ENOUGH?

When teen social activist and history buff Kezi Smith is killed under mysterious circumstances after attending a social justice rally, her devastated sister Happi and their family are left reeling in the aftermath. As Kezi becomes another immortalized victim in the fight against police brutality, Happi begins to question the idealized way her sister is remembered. Perfect. Angelic.

One of the good ones.

Even as the phrase rings wrong in her mind—why are only certain people deemed worthy to be missed?—Happi and her sister Genny embark on a journey to honor Kezi in their own way, using an heirloom copy of The Negro Motorist Green Book as their guide. But there’s a twist to Kezi’s story that no one could’ve ever expected—one that will change everything all over again.

Publication information:
Authors: Maika Moulite, Maritza Moulite
Publisher: Inkyard Press (January 5, 2021)

This is an incredibly well written book that peppers in a lot of interesting and important facts about Black history in America. But, this book has a pretty insane twist at about the 70% mark that caught me fully unprepared and made the rest of the book feel incredibly rushed after that.

<b>Quick Stats</b>
Age Rating: 14+
Over All: 4.5/5
Plot: 4.5/5
Characters: 4/5
Setting: 4/5
Writing: 4.5/5

I first picked this book up in 2020/2021, around it’s release, but I had to put it back down again, because I wasn’t mentally in a place to read this. It’s a heavy book, focusing on grief, racism, police brutality. It’s an important book, a great book. But I had just lost someone, and I wasn’t in a place to read a book about grief.
I loved Maika and Maritza Moulite’s debut, so I’ve been wanting to read this ever since. I finally got around to it this week—and I’m so glad I did. This book was incredible.

One of the Good Ones mainly tackles racism (both the blatant kind, and the racism of white people who think they’re being allies) and police brutality, but it tackles other important topics like class, LGBTQ rights, religious trauma, evangelicalism, the foster system (and what happens to those kids after), and more. Listing it all out, it sounds like a lot. And it’s true that when a book tackles this many issues, it can sometimes feel like checking lists, more agenda than narrative. This book never felt like that. All of these aspects were explored well, cohesively with the story and plot of the book.
OotgO is told in split narration. Happi is the main character, narrating most of the book as she embarks on a road trip in remembrance of her sister Kezi, who was killed in police custody after being unjustly arrested. However, we get some chapters from Kezi’s POV as well, exploring her character, the events leading to her death, etc; as well as a few chapters from the POV of Shaqueria, an ex-foster teen, and some of Happi and Kezi’s ancestors.
I’m not always the biggest fan of split narration, but I enjoyed this.

I will say, I guessed the plot twist pretty early on. Not necessarily all the details of it, but the general idea. I think I figured it out well before I was supposed to, but it didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the book. It was more of an excitement to be right, and it even knowing it, when it happened it still upped the ante of the plot.
All in all, phenomenal book. Maika and Maritza Moulite are incredible authors. This is very different from their debut, and their writing has strengthened a lot since then too. I can’t wait to see what they come out with next.

This was such a stunning story! One of my favorites of the year. Will definitely be recommending to all of my friends!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a free advanced copy of this book in exchange for a review.

This book is heart-wrenching. It is not a book about Black joy. It is stressful and unrelenting. I am so angry that we live in this world. It is absolutely brilliantly written.

I will not be giving feedback on this book as I couldn’t really get into it but I think others may enjoy it.

I really enjoyed this book and bought a copy for my classroom. It's been checked out by MANY, MANY students! YAY!

4.5

This was so well written and the plot was so intriguing that it makes me want to read everything by this author duo. I liked the conversations they had in the book and the relationship between the family and friends. The road trip was one of my favorite parts.

The reason this isn't 5 stars is the "Get Out" portion of the book felt a little jarring and I felt like it detracted from the message in the beginning in the book. I think I would have preferred the two plot lines more seemless or two separate books.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an advanced copy for my honest review.

I love how this book starts out as THE HATE U GIVE but all of the sudden there's a twist and now you're reading the literary equivalent of a Sean Connery film. The Moulite sisters are brilliant!

This book is incredible and will leave you with a powerful message about how powerful language is and how prejudice can leave a lasting impact. It tackles very heavy topics such as police brutality, racism, grief and homophobia. It also tackles the saying “one of the good ones” and how morally corrupt the term is. The book brought up a good point that it is harmful and inhumane that some people deem one person’s life as more worthy than others. There is also a mystery/thriller element to the story and the ending had quite a twist. I encourage everyone to read this book.

Thank you to NetGallery and to Inkyard Press for giving me a copy for my honest review.

Sharing the journey of family, sister authors Moulite share an unforgettable tale of courage and rage.

Set in the times in which Black youth are trying to make sense of the US and its historical treatment of Black lives, the reader can find the strength to stand on their own.

Once I got what was going on in this book I was really impressed with the writing and how it all pieced together. These sisters have such a unique and distinct writing style, and in this case they took on the task of jumping around in history and to different characters. For a bit I was kind of like why for some of the perspectives, but when it comes together it turns the story into something totally different than what I had expected and it was really fascinating. I don't want to say much more on that because I think it's best to go in to not knowing a lot, but just know it isn't your typical contemporary. I enjoyed the historical information that was scattered through the story, it fit into the narrative really well. The sisters were a pleasure to follow as they try and navigate life after losing their sister in a tragic incident. You get the perspective of the late sister before her death, and of the youngest sister, and I do kind of wish we had the perspective of Genny as well, but that didn't take that much away from enjoying the book. There were a lot of perspectives so I get why it was left out. Not at all what I was expecting to read, but not in a bad way! I'm really eager to see what these sisters come out with nex

Such an exhilarating read. I honestly think this should be classified as a thriller because I was on the edge of my seat the entire time.

I really enjoyed this book. It is very relevant to current events as in the protests and wrongful deaths of young innocent blacks in our society. Living in Minneapolis, many of the scenes brought back memories of the days following the murder of George Floyd. This book has many lessons that we all can learn from, There are also some twists that I was not expecting. There is some language that may make it more for older teens but outside of that, I think it was very well written.