New York : Farrar Straus Giroux, 2017
305 p. ; 22 cm.
A friend read this book and told me I should read it. I'm glad she did. It's a timely and interesting non-fiction YA book.
The basic "story" of the book involves two teens from different worlds in Oakland, California whose lives intersect on a city bus when one - a genderqueer student who looks like a boy but wears skirts - is set on fire by another student - a lively, friendly African American young man from another school. The act was a rash "prank" intended more to harass and perhaps humiliate the targeted student, but it ended up seriously injuring the victim, and was treated as a felonious, adult hate crime.
The book delves into the different world of these two young people and manages to convey the terrible nature of the crime and its effects, while also richly fleshing out the perpetrator.
There is a lot to mull over in this book. The roles that race, gender identity, family, poverty, policing and criminal justice play in our society.
I really like that the book jumps right in with the crime, and then proceeds to introduce us to the main protagonists in this drama. It also helps us see the ways that criminal justice serves and does not serve both victims and perpetrators.
This would be a great book to use in a class room to open up discussions of racial justice, criminal justice, gender identity, privilege and income inequality.
In addition to being a relevant read, it's also compelling and well written. I would recommend it.
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