In this Coretta Scott King Honor Award–winning novel, two teens—one black, one white—grapple with the repercussions of a single violent act that leaves their school, their community, and, ultimately, the country bitterly divided by racial tension.
A bag of chips. That’s all sixteen-year-old Rashad is looking for at the corner bodega. What he finds instead is a fist-happy cop, Paul Galluzzo, who mistakes Rashad for a shoplifter…There were witnesses: Quinn Collins—a varsity basketball player and Rashad’s classmate who has been raised by Paul since his own father died in Afghanistan—and a video camera. Soon the beating is all over the news and Paul is getting threatened with accusations of prejudice and racial brutality. Quinn refuses to believe that the man who has basically been his savior could possibly be guilty. But then Rashad is absent. And absent again. And again. And the basketball team—half of whom are Rashad’s best friends—start to take sides. As does the school. And the town. Simmering tensions threaten to explode as Rashad and Quinn are forced to face decisions and consequences they had never considered before.
Having not long finished The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, this popped up on my recommendations list.
Another timely call to not sit back and passively accept injustice, as that’s just as bad as carrying out the act in the first instance. This is the story of Rashad, a young black student, who is beaten up by a cop who thinks he was stealing. It’s also the story of Quinn, a young white student, who witnesses this attack and has to decide what to do about it.
Sadly, the very fact that this story has been written – and the ongoing news stories – show this is not an issue that has been resolved. Race and attitudes towards race, from both sides, are complex.
If I’m being honest, though this was an engaging story and one that certainly encourages people to think about where they’d stand, it didn’t quite work for me as I hoped it would. The story was split between two viewpoints but it meant certain ideas/concepts were rather glossed over. There was little attempt to consider the role of the cop (apart from a rather similar anecdote from Rashad’s father) and I would have liked to gain more of a view of the media coverage.
Still, it’s an important story and could be a way in for people to consider their attitudes towards race and police brutality. Wouldn’t it be nice if we didn’t have to do this?