It's not often a book gives me a strong, visceral reaction but this one hit me hard. The story is one we have seen too often in the news: police overstepping their boundaries, causing death to the innocent African-Americans. The story centers around a high school student named Moss who, when he was younger, saw his father gunned down by an officer and suffers from PTSD as a result. His father's crime was being a known protester against injustice who just happened to be shopping. When the Oakland high school in a rundown building with no money for books or other services, enters into a contract with the police department to make things "safer" the first thing that happens is the serious injury of a previously injured student by "malfunctioning" metal detectors. A student walk-out turns into a violent travesty with the police injuring and ultimately killing a teen, a young man who is Moss's first real boyfriend. Further demonstrations also turn violent and eventually the Oakland mayor and police chief back down somewhat - after a white girl is killed by police. Events in this book are sickening because they are going on in too many places in this country, Reading this book brought back the same feelings I had as a junior high student when I read Kristen Hunter's The Soul Brothers and Sister Lou. Just the idea that we still need books about racial injustice against young people over fifty years later is sickening. When will it ever end? This is one of the books I will be discussing with high school students as part of the Great Stories Grant.
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