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All American Boys | March 30, 2016

by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely (Simon & Schuster, September 2015)

When sixteen-year-old Rashad Butler went into the corner store, all he wanted to do was buy a bag of chips. He didn’t want to shoplift and he certainly didn’t want to be arrested for a crime he didn’t commit. But that’s exactly what happens when Officer Paul Galluzzo accuses him of stealing and violently arrests him, sending Rashad to the hospital with a broken nose, internal bleeding, and a few fractured ribs. When a video of the arrest and beating surfaces online, Rashad and Paul are thrust into the spotlight and become the center of a national debate on racism and police brutality. Was Paul just doing his job by subduing an unruly criminal or was Rashad targeted because of the color of his skin?

Quinn Collins, a classmate of Rashad’s, doesn’t know what to think. Paul practically raised him after Quinn’s father died in Afghanistan, and he’s sure Paul was only doing his job. But after witnessing the arrest, Quinn feels something’s not right about what happened. While Rashad must decide whether or not to take a stand and become part of the movement sweeping the nation, Quinn is forced to confront his own beliefs and choose what kind of man he wants to be. Told from both Rashad and Quinn’s points of view, this is a timely and important book about racism in the present day. Although the message can be a touch heavy-handed at times, co-authors Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely tackle this difficult subject with honesty and optimism.

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