All American Boys

Annotation: A ‘misunderstanding' in a convenience store with a police officer sends Rashad to the hospital, but when the misunderstanding stems from racism and someone almost dies for doing nothing wrong is it really just an accident? 


This book is meant to make the reader think. It is told from two perspectives, one black kid and one white kid, letting the reader experience two sides of this event. It is a great book in this time where these events are brought to light more and more. The authors did a fabulous job of capturing the internal struggles of the characters and making the reader feel the emotions. These emotional scenes both characters go through, such as Rashad being embarrassed of his face or disagreements Quinn has with his friends, can make this book really connect with the reader, who may have the same worries or concerns.

The authors' use of symbolism and changing the way a word, phrase, or action is portrayed within the book is to be commended. One example of this is the phrase ‘All-American boy' which Quinn hates to be referred to as, but he takes the term later in the book and begins to think deeper about it. This learning and deeper thinking about ‘every day' kind of things develops slowly over the book in a way I think benefits the reader, who can learn and analyze along with the characters. 

Speaking of characters, all of them are done so well. Every character has a life of their own and distinct personalities which make the side characters more than just cardboard cut-outs. This makes the book more vivid and real, allowing students a chance to see themselves not only in the main characters, but in the side characters as well. 
I would recommend this book to high school students or mature middle school students, but I do believe this to be a book everyone should read.