Book Reviews : Young Adult Novels and Black Lives Matter.

My mum was taught to be afraid of the police. Whenever she saw a police officer come walking down the driveway my nanna would yell at my mum and her siblings to run and hide. Despite my great grand father being the first Aboriginal man to reach the rank of sergeant in the Australian NSW Police Force, my nanna would never trust his colleagues when they came to collect him for a case. My mum always laughs when she tells me it took her years to figure out why nanna would always tell her to run at the sight of a police officer. My mum is black. 

"It's your generation that is going to change things." - My Nanna.

I've been pulled over a few times by the police...

·     Driving an unregistered car as a teen (Dad forgot to pay the bill.)

·     As a passenger for a speeding boyfriend (Embarrassing I know.)

·     Once just because the police wanted to talk about my dad’s ugly car while I pulled out of McDonalds (We had a good laugh about how old it was.) 

None of these times have I been scared for my life for even a second. The police have always been friendly and professional each time. I know the police officer is going to take one look at me and think of their daughter, sister, niece or granddaughter. My experience with the police is not universal; I know this from my mother. I know because of the way I look, white passing, I live with privilege and I take my safety for granted. I will take the lessons I have learned from the words of the following novels wherever I may go. 

The books in this list all have the same tragic event in common... the unarmed shooting of a young African-American teenage boy by a white police officer. 

1. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas.

“I’ve seen it happen over and over again: a black person gets killed just for being black,and all hell breaks loose. I’ve Tweeted RIP hashtags, reblogged pictures on Tumblr, and signed every petition out there. I always said that if I saw it happen to somebody, I would be the loudest voice, making sure the world knew what went down. Now I am that person, and I’m too afraid to speak.” - The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas.

Starr Carter is the daughter of a former gang member O.G. She lives with her family in a dangerous neighbourhood where everybody knows everybody. The two gangs are at war, and drug dependency coupled with poverty is common in the community. Starr is going to a school with a largely white population. At this school she is making new friends and has a doting boyfriend who happens to be white (Don’t tell her dad.) Starr goes to a party and catches up with her old childhood friend Khalil. Gunshots start firing at the party and everyone runs for their life. Khalil offers to drive Starr home and during the drive the pair get pulled over by a police officer. Khalil is shot and dies at the scene leaving a traumatised Starr shaken beyond all imagining. 

This is a perfect book. This book is wonderful, beautiful, gripping, heart wrenching and magnificent. This is the type of book that you carry with you for the rest of your life. It should be vital reading for all of humanity and sit on the bookshelf of every politician, police officer and student. The author deserves every honour and all the praise she has received for this debut. This is one of my most favourite books of all time and I never wanted it to end. The writing was unique, the pace was quick and the plot moving. It gave me a new perspective on the type of life I have never been exposed to and I am so thankful I got to be educated on this topic. Khalil may not be a real person but he represents many real people who lost their life in similar and tragic circumstances. The pain of knowing this difficult fact is all consuming when you read the words amongst these pages. I will be reading this book over and over for years to come.

2. If You Come Softly by Jacqueline Woodson.

“You do not die. Your soul steps out of your body, shakes itself hard because it’s been carrying the weight of your heavy skin for fifteen years.... Already you hear your mother screaming. Already you see your father dropping his head into his hands.” - If You Come Softly by Jacqueline Woodson. 

Elisha and Jeremiah fall in love. Elisha (Ellie) is Jewish American and Jeremiah (Miah) is African American. Ellie and Miah as a biracial couple deal with the typical judgement but for the most part their love is easy. They go to a fancy school and both come from privileged but complicated families. Miah's father is an Oscar nominated film director and his mother is a best-selling author. Miah can tell you how to pick the perfect wine and what the water looks like in Mexico. Ellie lives in an apartment building with a doorman and her father is a doctor but this is the first time she has gone to private school. All her older siblings went to public school and she is only close to one, her sister Anne. Miah and Ellie worry about their families and school. What they don’t worry about is how they are perceived by the police. 

This book was first published in 1998 and it is still all too relevant today. This book is well known for this difficult topic. The chapters go back and forth between the perspectives of the two main characters. Immediately from the beginning you know this will be a love story filled with tragedy. Even if their ‘meet-cute’ was the typical running into each other and dropping their books scenario.  One of my favourite aspects of this book is that both families are original and fascinating. You become invested in the lives of these families and spend the whole book wondering what will happen to the various characters. The ending of this book ripped my heart right out of my chest and stomped on it for good measure. 

3. Dear Martin by Nic Stone. 

“Yes there are no more “colored” water fountains, and it’s supposed to be illegal to discriminate, but if I can be forced to sit on the concrete in too-tight cuffs when I’ve done nothing wrong, it’s clear there’s an issue. That things aren’t as equal as folks say they are.” - Dear Martin by Nic Stone. 

One night Justyce receives a call from a friend of his former girlfriend calling for help. Justyce arrives to find his girl drunk, alone and trying to get into her car to drive. While helping his girl, the police apprehend Justyce, throwing him to the ground and hand cuffing him. This event shakes Justyce and he decides to start an experiment to cope with his trauma. Justyce starts writing letters to Dr. Martin Luther King. Justyce is Yale-bound, a debate team champion and goes to an elite school. Justyce is getting sick and tired of the racism directed at him and his best friend Manny so he starts fighting back. Manny on the other hand is reluctant to stand up to his friends and the system. Will the lessons of Dr. King help Justyce to stand up and be heard? 

The pain in the pages of this novel is just seeping through. It was difficult to read the events in this tale. The emotion that consumed me throughout was anger. I was so angry for the characters. I found myself having to pace with this book because the anger I felt at the constant racism was becoming too much for me to handle. I could barely see straight after reading the dialogue between the characters. This is an important read and it taught me that I do not need to rush through every book. It does not matter how long it takes to finish a book as long as you’re absorbing the lessons and finish what you started. 

 ~

Last Month I marched and screamed "Black Lives Matter" while the sun beamed down on me. I have a constant fear that someone I love, someone in my family, may be killed in a racially motivated crime. I don't think this fear will ever truly go away. I must learn to take my nanna's fear and use it to be a part of a movement to create everlasting change within my community. I hope to make her proud.