All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely

All American Boys is a contemporary realistic fiction book about Rashad, a teenage African American living in Springfield. One day Rashad goes to the store to buy a bag of chips; while in the store, a white lady trips over him, and he drops his bag of chips. Subsequently, the store clerk and a police officer accused him of stealing the bag of chips. Rashad is dragged outside the store only to be beaten by the policeman within an inch of his life. Word of Rashad's hospitalization ends up on the news due to bystanders recording the incident, which leads to protests on social media and in the community. One of those bystanders is a white adolescent named Quinn, who happens to be a friend of the policeman and a fellow basketball teammate. Their stories run concurrently throughout the book while they discover the true nature of people in their lives. Kirkus Review explains the author's message most appropriately in the quote, "If the hands and agenda of the authors are evident, their passion elevates the novel beyond a needed call to action to a deeply moving experience."

Critical Analysis

The story is in the first person, and the plot is easy to follow. Rashad and Quinn are endearing, making it a difficult read when tragedy and difficulties occur. The book's themes include racism, prejudice, white privilege, stereotyping, activism, and police brutality. Dear Martin by Nice Stone is a book readers may enjoy with a similar theme regarding bigotry, racism, and police brutality.

The book's strength is its ability to deliver a message about contemporary societal issues in a perfectly crafted story. Case in point, the message is portrayed through white and African American perspectives, which is part of the story's elegance. The weakness of this book is that the story ends before we know what happens to the protagonists after a significant protest.

Audiobook Details

This review is written using the unabridged version using the Axis 360 application. The length of the audiobook is 6 hours and 35 minutes. The voices felt authentic, with the narrators providing an unshakeable performance. Likewise, the sound quality is solid. In the book's conclusion, Jason Reynolds perfectly summarizes the story's message with a quote by Hillel the Elder, who states, "if I am not for myself then who will be for me" and "if I am only for myself what am I."

References

Rashad wasn't trying to steal. (2015, September 29). All American boys. Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved March 7, 2022, from https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/jason-reynolds/all-american-boys/

Reynolds, J., & Kiely, B. (2015). All American Boys. (G. Lockard, Narr., K. Nobbs, Narr.) [Audiobook] Simon & Schuster Audio. https://bpls.axis360.baker-taylor.com/Title?itemId=0017898995&ISBN=9781442398672&isRecommendable=false&collectionType=null