Middle Schooler Review: Dear Martin by Nic Stone

Young Adult & Middle Grade Books that address Police Brutality:

Here are some amazing books by Black authors and authors of color who have written about police brutality and raising up against anti-Black racism.

Middle Grade Books that address Police Brutality and rising up against anti-Black racism:

A Good Kind of Trouble

Author: Lisa Moore Ramée

Description: A Good Kind of Trouble is a contemporary Middle Grade novel told through the point of view of a Black 7th grade girl who is regularly one of the only Black children in her classes. The community in the book is dealing with the trial against an officer who killed a Black man in their community. The book deals with issues of police brutality, what it means to have friends across difference, what it means to have friends who have the same background as you, navigating the politics of middle school, finding your voice, and standing up for what you believe in.

Includes: #africanamerican #black #femaleprotagonist #middlegrade #policebrutality #grief #trauma #contemporary #hope

Citation: Moore Ramée, L. (2019). A Good Kind of Trouble. Blazer + Bray.

How It Went Down

Author: Kekla Magoon

Description: How It Went Down tells the story of the death of a Black boy at the hands of a white officer and the community’s response to that act of police brutality and murder. Told through multiple perspectives this book has conflicting stories and new information as the community tries to find the full truth of what happened and make sense of the tragedy.

Includes: #africanamerican #black #femaleprotagonist #maleprotagonist #policebrutality #grief #trauma #gentrification #contemporary

Citation: Magoon, K. (2014). How It Went Down. New York, Henry Holt and Co. (BYR).

Ghost Boys

Author: Jewell Parker Rhodes

Description: Ghost Boys is a contemporary Middle Grade novel told through the point of view of the ghost of a 12-year-old Black boy who was shot and killed by the police. He observes his community in mourning as they process the grief at the loss of his life. The protagonist meets a fellow ghost, Emmett Till, who was also killed through an act of anti-Black racism. The ghost of Emmett Till is based on the real life story of Emmett Till who was a real life Black boy who was lynched and killed in Mississippi in 1955. Emmett helps the protagonist process and deal with his own death and reckon with the legacy of anti-Black violence and police brutality within the history of the United States.

Includes: #africanamerican #black #maleprotagonist #history #lynching #policebrutality #grief #trauma #contemporary

Citation: Parker Rhodes, J. (2018). Ghost Boys. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.

Young Adult Books that address Police Brutality and rising up against anti-Black racism:

All American Boys

By: Jason Reynolds & Brendan Kiely

Description: All American Boys tells the story of a Black boy and a white boy before, during, and after an act of police brutality. The story is told through alternating perspectives and deals with the Black boy dealing with all of his feelings around being attacked by a police officer and the white boy who witnessed the act of police brutality as he begins to notice the ways that privilege shows up in his community and the ways that his community is racist. The book is follows both of their emotional journeys and how they decide to move forward and rise up against anti-Black racism.

Includes: #africanamerican #black #maleprotagonist #privilege #protest #policebrutality #grief #trauma #contemporary

Citation: Reynolds, J. & Kiely, B. (2015). All American Boys. New York, Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books.

The Hate U Give

Author: Angie Thomas

Description: The Hate U Give tells the story of a young girl’s experience of what happens in the aftermath of police brutality. This book also deals with the experience of being split between two worlds, that of her neighborhood and Black community, and that of her mostly white private school.

Includes: #africanamerican #black #femaleprotagonist #interraciallove #policebrutality #grief #trauma #gentrification #contemporary

Citation: Thomas, A. (2017). The Hate U Give. New York, NY: Balzer + Bray.

Dear Martin

Author: Nic Stone

Description: Dear Martin is a contemporary young adult novel told through conversations and letters written by the main character to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The book deals with issues of police brutality, the conflict between the different parts of one’s identity, and interracial love. The book features a Black male main character.

Includes: #africanamerican #black #maleprotagonist #interraciallove #policebrutality #grief #trauma #contemporary

Citation: Stone, N. (2017). Dear Martin. New York: Crown.

Tyler Johnson Was Here

Author: Jay Coles

Description: Tyler Johnson Was Here is a contemporary novel about a gay African American teen whose twin brother is shot and killed by the police.

Includes: #gay #LGBTQIA #maleprotagonist #africanamerican #black #policebrutality #mentalhealth #trauma

Citation: Coles, J. (2018). Tyler Johnson Was Here. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.

Light It Up

Author: Kekla Magoon

Description: Light It Up tells the story of a community during the aftermath of an act of police violence against a 13-year-old Black girl who was shot and killed by the police. Told through multiple perspectives, this book discusses the repeated nature of police brutality and the community reckoning with the idea that police violence against Black people by the police keeps happening and nothing is changing.

Includes: #africanamerican #black #femaleprotagonist #maleprotagonist #policebrutality #grief #trauma #gentrification #contemporary

Citation: Magoon, K. (2019). Light It Up. New York, Henry Holt and Co. (BYR).

Anger Is A Gift

Author: Mark Oshiro

Description: Anger Is A Gift is a contemporary novel about a gay African American teen growing up in Oakland, California and dealing with anxiety and panic attacks because of the trauma of his father’s death at the hands of Oakland police.

Includes: #gay #LGBTQIA #maleprotagonist #africanamerican #black #latinx #mentalhealth #trauma #policebrutality

Citation: Oshiro, M. (2018). Anger Is A Gift. Tor Teen.