This Is My America

Gr 9 Up–Desperate to raise awareness for her father’s wrongful conviction case, Tracy Beaumont, 17, hijacks her track-star brother Jamal’s TV interview. With less than a year until their father is executed for a crime he didn’t commit, Tracy hopes the interview will gain the attention of Innocence X, an organization that helps overturn convictions. But the move puts her at odds with Jamal and their school newspaper’s editor, Angela. Before Tracy can make things right, Angela is murdered and Jamal is the number one suspect. Now this likable, dogged narrator has two battle fronts and is passionately seeking justice. The story hits the ground running with the TV interview but loses momentum as it moves into introducing the rest of the characters and setting. The awkward pacing is most notable at the beginning, but persists with several stops and starts throughout the story. Despite the pacing issues, there is excitement aplenty, with skeletons in closets, a love triangle, dynamic secondary characters, and a seamless blend of realistic fiction and murder mystery.