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All American Boys

Audiobook
2 of 2 copies available
2 of 2 copies available
A 2016 Coretta Scott King Author Honor book, and recipient of the Walter Dean Myers Award for Outstanding Children's Literature.

In this New York Times bestselling 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, mistakes Rashad's pleadings that he's stolen nothing for belligerence, mistakes Rashad's resistance to leave the bodega as resisting arrest, mistakes Rashad's every flinch at every punch the cop throws as further resistance and refusal to STAY STILL as ordered. But how can you stay still when someone is pounding your face into the concrete pavement?

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.

Written in tandem by two award-winning authors, this four-starred reviewed tour de force shares the alternating perspectives of Rashad and Quinn as the complications from that single violent moment, the type taken directly from today's headlines, unfold and reverberate to highlight an unwelcome truth.
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  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from August 31, 2015
      In this painful and all-too-timely book, two authorsâone black, one whiteâpresent a story of police brutality. Reynolds (The Boy in the Black Suit) voices Rashad, the innocent victim of a police beating; Kiely (The Gospel of Winter) writes Quinn, a horrified witness. The book moves quickly, starting on a Friday night with the boysâclassmates who don't know each otherâpreparing for a party, and ending with a social-media-inspired protest march one week later. For Rashad, the week means facing the physical and mental effects of what has happened, including a father who initially assumes that Rashad is guilty. For fatherless Quinn, the struggle comes from the fact that the cop is not only the older brother of a close friend, but also a father figure. The scenario that Reynolds and Kiely depict has become a recurrent feature of news reports, and a book that lets readers think it through outside of the roiling emotions of a real-life event is both welcome and necessary. Ages 12âup. Agent: (for Reynolds) Elena Giovinazzo, Pippin Properties; (for Kiely) Rob Weisbach, Rob Weisbach Creative Management.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Two talented narrators portray the alternate realities of two teenagers involved in a complex situation. Rashad, an artistic African-American, is savagely beaten by a policeman. Hospitalized, with internal bleeding, he wants only to be left alone. Narrator Guy Lockhard shifts briskly between Rashad's tormented thoughts and the intrusions of the well-meaning people who surround him. An overly enthusiastic nurse, family members, and friends, as well as constant news coverage, compromise his recovery. In alternate chapters, Keith Nobbs portrays the anguish of Quinn, a solitary white teen who witnessed the crime. Nobbs conveys Quinn's emotional journey from wanting to hide his knowledge about what happened to finding the courage to speak. These sensitive portraits describe emotional journeys behind today's all-too-common events. S.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

Languages

  • English

Levels

  • Lexile® Measure:770
  • Text Difficulty:3-4

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