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heidz's review against another edition
4.0
This was an excellent story and gives the prospective of a very real United States for a large precent of the population. I believe this is a story that should be added to school curriculum to help teach institutional racism. Highly recommend this to everyone.
exorcismemily's review against another edition
4.0
This is My America is such a good book, and you need to add it to your summer TBR! I was excited to see that this book was about an innocence case in Texas, and I couldn't wait to check it out. My sister used to volunteer with The Innocence Project of Texas, and it's an organization that I admire.
This is My America grabbed my attention from the start, and it was very easy to get invested in the characters and story. This book takes you through so many emotions, and it's done so well.
I'm not going to go into it much more because you need to see where it goes on your own. Just know that you should pick it up. I'll be thinking about this one for a while.
CW - wrongful conviction, racism, lynching (off-page), cross burning
This is My America grabbed my attention from the start, and it was very easy to get invested in the characters and story. This book takes you through so many emotions, and it's done so well.
I'm not going to go into it much more because you need to see where it goes on your own. Just know that you should pick it up. I'll be thinking about this one for a while.
CW - wrongful conviction, racism, lynching (off-page), cross burning
kim_j_dare's review against another edition
5.0
Wow.
This story, six years in the making according to an author interview, is so incredibly timely. In a small Texas town near Galveston, 17-year-old Tracy Beaumont has been writing weekly letters for seven years to Innocence X, a legal aid group modeled after Bryan Stevenson’s Equal Justice Initiative. Her father is on death row for murders the family knows he didn’t commit, and Tracy is determined to get Innocence X’s attention so that they’ll take on her father’s case. Her popular brother has become more than friends with a white classmate. When Angela’s body is discovered near the bay, Jamal is the prime suspect. Knowing what happened when their father maintained his innocence, Jamal chooses to go into hiding rather than turn himself in. As Tracy learns more about Angela’s death, she begins to suspect that the police are covering things up and that there may be a connection between her father’s conviction and the manhunt for her brother. Her life-and-death race to clear their names could put her, along with her mother and sister, in danger.
While there are moments that dialog can teeter on didacticism and the resolution is almost certainly neater than “real life,” Johnson does an outstanding job of providing an accessible and fast-paced story that tackles our justice system, the prison industry, white supremacy groups, and the importance of #BlackLivesMatter.
Essential reading.
Thank you, Random House Books for Young Readers and NetGalley, for the electronic advance readers copy.
This story, six years in the making according to an author interview, is so incredibly timely. In a small Texas town near Galveston, 17-year-old Tracy Beaumont has been writing weekly letters for seven years to Innocence X, a legal aid group modeled after Bryan Stevenson’s Equal Justice Initiative. Her father is on death row for murders the family knows he didn’t commit, and Tracy is determined to get Innocence X’s attention so that they’ll take on her father’s case. Her popular brother has become more than friends with a white classmate. When Angela’s body is discovered near the bay, Jamal is the prime suspect. Knowing what happened when their father maintained his innocence, Jamal chooses to go into hiding rather than turn himself in. As Tracy learns more about Angela’s death, she begins to suspect that the police are covering things up and that there may be a connection between her father’s conviction and the manhunt for her brother. Her life-and-death race to clear their names could put her, along with her mother and sister, in danger.
While there are moments that dialog can teeter on didacticism and the resolution is almost certainly neater than “real life,” Johnson does an outstanding job of providing an accessible and fast-paced story that tackles our justice system, the prison industry, white supremacy groups, and the importance of #BlackLivesMatter.
Essential reading.
Thank you, Random House Books for Young Readers and NetGalley, for the electronic advance readers copy.
sareah04's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
annie_bordeaux's review against another edition
4.0
this is a hard one to rate bc i agree with the message so much, so i just want to specify any of my criticisms are to the characters or the writing, not the message.
characters: the characters were fine. this book was definitely plot/message led so tracy was pretty developed but everyone else was quite bland. one of my main complaints with this book, though, is how unrealistically mature everyone is. the things characters (especially tracy) do and say arent things I would expect 25 year olds to do or say, much less a 17 year old.
plot: the plot was really well written. the mystery was really good too. I like how connected the plot was to the message, so the message didnt feel random.
relationships: I loved the familial relationships, especially tracy and jamal. I think their sibling relationship is really sweet, and I just love jamal. on the other hand, the love triangle is....hm. I mean its not bad, it's just kinda cheesy. plus u never really get to see much of dean, yet hes supposed to be the one shes leaning towards in the first half? if hes her very best friend then why are most of their interactions arguing lol
other: I think this book explored a lot of topics that people normally shy away from, and that's really good. the writing was very emotional too, whether that's joy or sadness, it could make you feel it along with the characters.
characters: the characters were fine. this book was definitely plot/message led so tracy was pretty developed but everyone else was quite bland. one of my main complaints with this book, though, is how unrealistically mature everyone is. the things characters (especially tracy) do and say arent things I would expect 25 year olds to do or say, much less a 17 year old.
plot: the plot was really well written. the mystery was really good too. I like how connected the plot was to the message, so the message didnt feel random.
relationships: I loved the familial relationships, especially tracy and jamal. I think their sibling relationship is really sweet, and I just love jamal. on the other hand, the love triangle is....hm. I mean its not bad, it's just kinda cheesy. plus u never really get to see much of dean, yet hes supposed to be the one shes leaning towards in the first half? if hes her very best friend then why are most of their interactions arguing lol
other: I think this book explored a lot of topics that people normally shy away from, and that's really good. the writing was very emotional too, whether that's joy or sadness, it could make you feel it along with the characters.
lcl_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
4.0
dreaming_ace's review against another edition
5.0
This was an important novel about the consequences of our current criminal justice system on people and on communities. Too many people do not experience justice when they deal with the criminal justice system. Too many people are in the criminal justice system because of bias and legacies of racism. Too many people have been deeply harmed by the criminal justice system full stop.
prettypious's review against another edition
5.0
This was a really good YA book. I see comparisons to Dear Martin and Dear Justyce but that’s wrong completely. Neither of those books quite compare. The closest I can think of is Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke but that still doesn’t quite capture it. Imagine if Ashley Ford, Ibi Zoboi, Brittany Cooper, Tiffany Jackson, Nicola Yoon, and Brandy Colbert got together to write a YA realistic fiction book and then you get this. The author invested me in the characters really early and the character development for the main characters was grade A. The pacing was good and I stayed on the edge of my seat as I waited to figure out what was going to happen next and what really happened. Anyways no review I can give can quite capture it cause honestly I’m overwhelmed by how good the book was, so I just say, read it, as soon as you can!
anaffpereira's review against another edition
5.0
It is sad, and disconcerting, to understand how truthful and relevant this work of fiction is. The Beaumont family might be fictional, but their struggles, their anguish is very much real. I was glad to read this eye-opening debut novel. It was a gripping story with a strong main character.