This is My America — A Book Review
“They look at my father and think, murderer. They look at my brother and think, thug. They look at me and think I’ll be quiet. They are wrong.”
17-year-old Tracy Beaumont is in a race against time. Her father has exactly 267 days to live. He is an innocent man, condemned to die in a Texas prison for a murder he did not commit. On a crusade to save him, Tracy pens a letter each week to Innocence X, pleading with them to take her father’s case. Week after week her letters go unanswered. But she won’t stop fighting for his life or for the lives of the people of color in her community she has seen devastated by the injustice of systemic racism.
Tracy is a high school student with her own column in the school paper, Tracy’s Corner, where she tackles important issues of the day through investigative journalism. She teaches “Know Your Rights” classes at the local community center, an effort to prevent potentially fatal run-ins with law enforcement. Her older brother Jamal is a senior, preparing to head to college the following year on a track scholarship. Her baby sister only knows her father through the carefully monitored visits at the prison where he is incarcerated. Tracy’s mother manages the finances of the local antique store and brings her family together each evening with the delicious recipes she brought with her from her home state of Louisiana, following Hurricane Katrina.
Just when Tracy feels like she is making some progress on her father’s case after speaking out during a family television interview about her brother’s track career, tragedy strikes. A classmate of Tracy’s is murdered and the police have identified a suspect — Jamal. Using her investigative skills and with the help of friends, including a new member of the police department, Tracy works to prove the innocence of her father and now her brother before it’s too late for both of them. Her work will uncover the painful past of her town and challenge her relationships with the people she thought she knew, while forming lasting bonds with those she didn’t.
This is My America is the debut novel of Kim Johnson, an activist and administrator at the University of Oregon. It’s been described as The Hate U Give meets Just Mercy and has received a 2020 NPR Best Book of the Year Award. In her author’s note, she describes in part why she felt compelled to write the story of Tracy Beaumont and her family:
I wrote This is My America to tackle serious topics and give hope to the next generation. This is My America’s DNA is embedded from beginning to end with complex topics that impact Black Americans today. The Beaumonts’ story showcases how generational trauma caused by mass incarceration reverberates throughout the Black American experience today. The story weaves past and present. It is based as much on Thurgood Marshall’s story told in Devil in the Grove as it is on Just Mercy. The present is still a reflection of the past.
Johnson concludes the book with a list of recommended titles for further reading on the topics covered in the novel. This is My America is located in the law library’s legal fiction collection. While it is written with a young adult audience in mind, it is a powerful book that will resonate with all age groups and help start and facilitate essential conversations on race and the criminal justice system. For information about how to check out this title, please contact us at library.requests@courts.wa.gov or 360–357–2136. (LE)
