1. Three important points/ideas are gender identity, absolution, and discrimination. Both main characters, Sasha and Richard, experience some form of discrimination in the novel. Sasha does when they become the victim of a hate crime for identifying as agender, and Richard does when he experiences institutionalized racism within the California justice system for being African American. Sasha ultimately comes to forgive Richard for what he’s done, despite the fact that he still must serve time in State Prison.

2. This reminds me of instances of discrimination against the LGBTQ community back when gay marriage was first legalized. While I don’t necessarily remember any violent hate crimes being committed due to the legalization of gay marriage, I do remember acts of discrimination. One in particular was the case of Kim Davis, a county clerk from Kentucky, who refused to give marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

3. The author’s purpose is to bring awareness to the discrimination of all individuals. I believe that Dashka Slater wanted to bring more awareness, not just to the discrimination LGBTQ individuals face, but also to the discrimination African Americans must face within the United States justice system.

4. What interested me most was the fact that Sasha was able to forgive him. Of course Richard shows remorse for what he did later in the novel, but Sasha’s forgiveness was the last thing I expected. I also didn’t expect their family to forgive Richard either. This interested me because it truly shows how cathartic it can be to simply forgive someone for their wrongdoings. Despite the fact that Sasha experienced a horrific hate crime against them, they were able to find absolution in letters written to them by Richard.

5. I still don’t understand why the district attorney’s office dropped Richard’s plea deal of 5 years for assault. Richard was first charged with 2 hate crimes, but was given a plea agreement of 5 years for just assault if he pled guilty. Without warning or explanation, Richard’s plea deal is withdrawn and he is instead offered 7 years with the possibility of a reduced sentence for good behavior. While Richard is eventually given the 5 years for good behavior and transferred to a juvenile detention center, it seems a little unfair that his initial plea deal was withdrawn without warning or explanation. This honestly could be an instance of institutionalized racism against Richard within the justice system.

There are many effective strategies to use when “teaching tolerance” in a classroom through YA reading. Out of all the strategies listed on (www.tolerance.org), I believe ‘shared reading’, or a guided/reading aloud strategy coupled with group discussions, is most effective when teaching tolerance. When using the ‘shared reading’ strategy, one or more students will read certain sections of the novel aloud and pause at specific moments so the class can discuss what was just read. I see this strategy being extremely effective when teaching lessons on the novel All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely. When reading All American Boys, it’s hard not to acknowledge the themes in the novel surrounding race, police brutality, and stereotyping. These themes unfortunately coincide all too well with today’s current events. I believe ‘shared reading’ is a perfect lesson strategy to use because it allows the students to not only understand the novel’s themes, but also connect those themes with events that have recently happened in the United States (ex. Trayvon Martin, Black men arrested at Starbucks, etc). While some students may be more aware of these issues in today’s society, other students may not be as knowledgeable or simply turn a blind eye. Reading aloud and following up the reading with group discussions allows the entire class to express their thoughts about the novel, and in turn bounce ideas off of each other while discussing the themes and how they may be relevant in today’s society.

In Sims-Bishop’s “Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors” books are described as windows into the world of the novel, “offering views of worlds that may be real or imagined”. Books are also described as glass doors that, “readers have only to walk through in imagination to become part of whatever world has been created or recreated by the author”. In the case of All American Boys, the novel is unfortunately a mirror of real world events. The novels’ racially sensitive themes are all to pertinent in today’s culture. I believe it is important to not only teach students the themes in the novel, but to use those themes to give them a better understanding of the world around them.

Who: Guzzo

What: His brother Paul, a police officer, beat an African American teen(Rashad) outside of Jerry’s for possibly stealing.

Where: His brother beat Rashad outside of Jerry’s. However, Paul is writing this at home.

When: One week after the beating.

Why: He feels like his best friend Quinn betrayed him for not supporting his brother.

“Dear Diary,

I feel like I don’t even know Quinn anymore. We went to Jerry’s last Friday to score some beer for Jill’s party, but instead found my brother arresting a thief. My brother Paul is not intolerant or a bigot just because that criminal happened to be black. Is Quinn not grateful for all the things Paul did for his family when his dad passed away?! Paul was only doing his job! I even invited him to my family barbecue on Sunday, but he just acted uptight the entire time. People in this country are way too sensitive. It seems like someone’s being accused of racism every day in this country. Things weren’t much different at school. Quinn said he supported Paul, but never wanted push the issue. I finally had enough when I saw him on Thursday wearing a shirt that said, ‘IM MARCHING, ARE YOU?’ I intentionally elbowed him during practice and afterwards, I punched him. I had had enough of Quinn. I thought he would have been there for Paul, just like Paul had been there for him. I honestly could care less if I ever see or speak to Quinn again.”

By creating a diary entry from the viewpoint of a secondary character, it gives more insight into the story from a different point of view. This activity puts you in the shoes of the character you are writing about. It gives you an insight into that character that you may not have noticed while reading. While it is important to talk about the main characters and the conflicts they go through, it is also important to recognize the secondary characters and their own conflicts. I hope to incorporate this activity into my future theatre or drama class. As I worked on the assignment, I realized it was, in some ways, similar to a character analysis in theatre.

Even at my age

Young Adult Literature

Still captivates me