“Please. Don’t. Kill. Me.” This quote came directly from Rashad Butler, who has been attacked by a police officer. Rashad has always been an innocent boy, which makes the city question whether or not he actually is a criminal. The story, All American Boys, by Brendan Kiely and Jason Reynolds, is a realistic fiction novel about how a community responds to a racially motivated attack done by police officer, Paul Guluzzo. The story flips sides between the victim, Rashad Butler, who is African American, and a witness, Quinn Jones, who is Caucasian. Throughout the story, you will see how the community responds to the situation, and how things get extremely divided and segregated.

This book is great representation of issues that can happen today, which is why I highly recommend it to mature readers. Positive themes in the story are brotherhood, community, and family. All American Boys does a great job on showing how a community comes back together and supports each other through segregation. I would make sure that the audience is mature enough to read cuss words and deal with highly graphic scenarios. Overall, I give All American Boys a high rating and I hope that you will choose to read the book. You will find yourself invested in the story’s changing plot line.