This Is My America Blog Tour + Review

I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the THIS IS MY AMERICA by Kim Johnson Blog Tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours. Check out my post and make sure to enter the giveaway!

About the Book:

Title: THIS IS MY AMERICA

Author: Kim Johnson

Pub. Date: July 28, 2020

Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers

Formats: Hardcover, eBook, audiobook

Pages: 416

Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, Kindle, Audible, B&N, iBooks, Kobo, TBD, Bookshop.org

Dear Martin meets Just Mercy in this unflinching yet uplifting YA novel that explores the racist injustices in the American justice system.

Every week, seventeen-year-old Tracy Beaumont writes letters to Innocence X, asking the organization to help her father, an innocent Black man on death row. After seven years, Tracy is running out of time–her dad has only 267 days left. Then the unthinkable happens. The police arrive in the night, and Tracy’s older brother, Jamal, goes from being a bright, promising track star to a “thug” on the run, accused of killing a white girl. Determined to save her brother, Tracy investigates what really happened between Jamal and Angela down at the Pike. But will Tracy and her family survive the uncovering of the skeletons of their Texas town’s racist history that still haunt the present?

Fans of Nic Stone, Tiffany D. Jackson, and Jason Reynolds won’t want to miss this provocative and gripping debut.

My first thought when I finished this book was “More people need to read this.” My second thought was, I wish that this would be turned into a movie for those that don’t read as much! I wasn’t even planning to write out my review today, but I couldn’t stop thinking about this book and needed to get my thoughts out. 

Tracy has been writing to Innocence X ever since she was 10 years old when her dad was given the death sentence for a crime he didn’t commit. This organization could give him the attorney and support he needs for a successful appeal, but she has not heard back from them, even though she’s sent letters weekly for 7 years straight. Her dad has less than a year before his execution, and she knows she has to do absolutely anything in her power to save him. Even if her family disagrees with her way of going about it. Then, her brother is accused of being a murderer, and she has to fight for both of them. The son of an accused murderer is an easy subject to pin a murder on, and Tracy has to deal with prejudices of her own classmates at her school during this new case. 

I have watched so many true crime documentaries, and I never thought about what was happening to the kids while the parent was on trial. The series always said that the children were put into witness protection and their names changed. I never once thought about those whose parents were not in country-famous cases, whose cases might only be known about in their own small community, and how they would be treated if the justice system left them to fend for themselves. No one has the money to just stop working/going to school until the trial is over (which could take years). Tracy had to deal with going to elementary school while her dad was on trial, and being bullied because her dad was accused of being a murderer. She always knew her dad didn’t do it, but the kids in the neighborhood believed the media that painted him as a criminal/thug. Then she has to deal with it again in high school when her brother is accused, even before the trial has begun, by people that her brother would have called his friends. How many kids in America have dealt with that discrimination/bullying from students (or even possibly teachers) while their parents were on trial? In Tracy’s case, her dad didn’t do anything, but in any case, no kid should have to go through this because of something their parents did. 

There is a romance subplot between Tracy and Quincy, a boy whose father was killed by police and framed as a murderer with Tracy’s dad. She also has feelings for a white boy named Dean who she has been friends with for a long time. I usually hate love triangles in books, but I didn’t hate this one. Tracy had a real reason to like both boys, and both boys genuinely wanted to help her. The romance didn’t take over the story, but it also wasn’t forgotten. Tracy’s character is built on her own merits, not on her relationship with any of the other characters in the book. Her goal of saving her brother and father are hers to achieve, and 

This book covers many different aspects of the problems in America with law enforcement, justice, and so many other systems that are supposed to be there to “support” citizens. There is so much to this novel, it is definitely a must-have for a middle school or high school library. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a new book to read to educate themselves bout the lives of those who have been abused by the system for years. 

I received a copy of this book and this is my voluntary review.

Overall Rating: 6 out of 5 books. 

My Fav Quotes:

“They never found the murder weapon, and there were no witnesses. There should have been reasonable doubt, but the all-white jury felt otherwise.”

“Even armed with the knowledge about my rights, all that went out the window. I couldn’t replace the fear with my life on the line.”

About Kim:

KIM JOHNSON held leadership positions in social justice organizations as a teen and in college. She’s now a college administrator who maintains civic engagement throughout the community while also mentoring Black student activists and leaders. She is also the graduate advisor and member of an historically Black sorority. This Is My America is her debut novel and explores racial injustice against innocent Black men who are criminally sentenced and the families left behind to pick up the pieces. She holds degrees from the University of Oregon and the University of Maryland, College Park.

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Giveaway Details:

3 winners will receive a finished copy of THIS IS MY AMERICA, US Only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Schedule:

Week One:

Week Two:

Week Three:

Week Four: