How It Went Down

How It Went Down
by Kekla Magoon

Published: 2014 Publisher: Henry Holt and Co
Hardback: 336 pages ISBN: 0805098690

Genre: Realistic fiction
Recommended for children ages 14+ and grades 8-12.

Plot Summary:
This timely book centers on the death of a young teenage African-American boy named Tariq Johnson. Living in a very tough, gang-run neighborhood, Tariq is not shot by a gang-member but rather by a white man named Jack Franklin. In the aftermath of Tariq's death everyone in the community has something to say, but all the stories do not seem to match up. As each chapter is told from a different character's point of view, the reader begins to be able to piece together the truth. Throughout the book, a complex young man is revealed who will leave the reader thinking about him for a long time after the book is over.

Evaluation:
This book is powerful and well-written. It feels very "real" as the reader considers recent events such as the Mike Brown shooting, Eric Garnier choking, and others. The biggest strength of this text is Magoon's ability to portray the complexity of humans. There is no right and wrong in this text and no good or bad person, bur rather complex characters who show their strengths and weaknesses. She deftly portrays a community enveloped by gang violence and what it is like to grow up in that kind of environment. In a school library this book would resonate with teens who grow up in unsafe neighborhoods. It would hook readers who are trying to grapple with justice in 2015 and how racism still pervades our country. This book could be the start to many great discussions within the classroom.

Content Area:
English
Social Science (Prejudice, Racism, Gang history, Justice system)

Content Area Standards for Social Studies:

CA Common Core State Standards
CCSS Grade 9-10 Reading Standards for Literacy in Social Science: Analyze in detail a series of events described in a text; determine whether earlier events caused later ones or simply proceeded them.

CA Social Science Standards
CA Social Science Standard 11.11
a. Analyze the persistence of poverty and how different analyses of this issue influencewelfare reform, health insurance reform, and other social policies.
b. Explain how the federal, state, and local governments have responded to demographic and social changes such as population shifts to the suburbs, racial concentrations in the cities, Frostbelt-to-Sunbelt migration, international migration, decline offamily farms, increases in out-of-wedlock births, and drug abuse.

Links:
Author's Website

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