Notice: Function _load_textdomain_just_in_time was called incorrectly. Translation loading for the woostify domain was triggered too early. This is usually an indicator for some code in the plugin or theme running too early. Translations should be loaded at the init action or later. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 6.7.0.) in /home/latestwordpress/lonestar.a1professionals.net_public_html/wp-includes/functions.php on line 6131
{"id":2200,"date":"2020-08-09T09:45:40","date_gmt":"2020-08-09T09:45:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lonestar.a1professionals.net\/?p=2200"},"modified":"2020-08-09T09:47:37","modified_gmt":"2020-08-09T09:47:37","slug":"lone-star-review-my-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lonestar.a1professionals.net\/?p=2200&lang=ar","title":{"rendered":"Lone Star Review: THIS IS MY AMERICA"},"content":{"rendered":"

Review of new YA fiction set in Austin<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Seventeen-year-old Tracy Beaumont is coming of age the hard way. Her father is on Texas\u2019s Death Row, facing execution within months for murders he says, and she believes, he did not commit. Tracy\u2019s family, however, has run out of money for more court appeals and lawyers. And Tracy herself is getting no responses to the frequent letters she has been sending to a nonprofit group that tries to help \u201cpeople wrongly convicted and sentenced to death. Especially those in underserved communities.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Set in Austin, Texas, <\/span><\/span>Kim Johnson<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/a>\u2019s debut novel is a well-timed, well-written social-justice thriller aimed at young adults, though it should also appeal to older readers.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Tracy, the book\u2019s first-person viewpoint character, is a high school journalism student and \u201cKnow Your Rights\u201d workshop organizer. Tracy\u2019s older brother, Jamal, has been both a good student and standout sprinter on his high school track team. Now, carrying his family\u2019s battered honor, he\u2019s preparing to go to college. But suddenly, soon after one of his classmates is found dead, Jamal goes missing. As the known \u201cson of a murderer,\u201d police quickly suspect he\u2019s the killer. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

While Jamal\u2019s and Tracy\u2019s mother struggles to cope with this new shock, Tracy realizes she must find the courage to push beyond writing impassioned letters and holding events. She must stand up to racism on her own and try to uncover clues the police might have overlooked while investigating the murder Jamal is alleged to have committed. At the same time, she also must keep trying to get legal assistance for her father.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Johnson\u2019s smoothly-paced fiction pulls readers into her story with crisp sentences and quick glimpses of the conflicts and tensions that will keep building among key characters. She creates a realistic look at why many Black families, especially in a time of renewed racial and economic turmoil, place little faith in the purported fairness of America\u2019s judicial and law-enforcement systems. And she makes sparing but effective use of contemporary cultural parlance in appropriate scenes.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cJamal is in the same boat now, and things don\u2019t look good,\u201d Tracy tells herself. \u201cBut I have to believe I know my brother better than anyone. Then prove it to the world before it swallows him whole.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Her book\u2019s title, <\/span><\/span>This Is My America<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/a>, is meant to reflect the sense that African Americans and other minorities seemingly live in different nations than whites when encountering police, courts, and prisons. At the same time, Johnson\u2019s new novel delivers a hopeful story central to America\u2019s promises of freedom and opportunities for all. When family, friends, and supporters stand with you and you are willing to take risks for what you believe, one person can<\/em> make a difference. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"