All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely

I am currently reading All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely.  Even though I am only a little over 100 pages into it, I am already hooked.  Although this book is fictional, it deals with a hot topic right now in the United States.  This book deals with police brutality and racism.

One day Rashad is stopping at a convenience store and is accused of stealing a bag of chips that he was going to pay for.   Rashad may have looked the part of a “gangster”, with baggy jeans to top it all off, but he wants to be above the stereotype the world gives him.  When he is accused of stealing, a police officer tries to arrest him, claims Rashad is trying to resist and continues to beat him on the sidewalk breaking his nose and ribs.  This book follows two characters the other being Quinn.  Quinn was also at the convenience store that day and saw the whole ordeal unfold.  The only problem that was stopping Quinn from stopping the police officer is that the police officer is his best friend Guzzo’s older brother Paul who had treated him like a younger brother since his dad passed away.  The story continues with the aftermath of the incident.

So far this book is a great read and shows both sides of a story that is sadly very common in our culture.  It is a great read for teenagers who want to develop their opinion on the subject and teaches all of us to not judge people based on stereotypes.

I would give this book a 5/5 stars as of my progress into it so far.

If you are interested in this book, buy it on Amazon  or Barnes & Noble, or check out more reviews on Goodreads.