Thursday, February 4, 2016

All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely

This book is incredibly powerful and beautifully written. I requested a desk copy of this book from my English Department to consider for my Young Adult Literature course. Other reviewers have said it -- this book is a must read, for so many reasons. Obviously the message is important and timely, that's a given. But what is even more remarkable is the way the book came to pass with these two authors, a black man and a white man, collaborating in a unique way. Each author providing the voice of the two main characters has produced a book that I'm not sure could have been as effectvely written by one single author of either race. Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely, I can assure you my future students will be reading your work, talking through its essential message, and, since many of them will become teachers, I predict this book will become a work talked about in so many classrooms in years to come. Thank you for this book that needed to be written by two authors like you!