2015 Coretta Scott King honor book, How It Went Down by Kekla Magoon is powerful and thought provoking. It will leave you questioning many aspects of our society. Hands down, this was my favorite of the Nutmegs this year.
One afternoon 16 year old Tariq Johnson is shot dead in front of his friends. Tariq is black and his killer is white. In the aftermath of his shooting, everyone has an opinion as to what went down but no two accounts are the same. Day by day new truths come out. Tariq's friends, family, and community struggle to make sense of what happened and "how it went down".
I'll be honest this book made me very uncomfortable, but in a good way. Born and raised in a farm town, my upbringing couldn't be more different than Tariq's. It has taken me a long time to realize that it's ok to feel uncomfortable. In fact, it can broaden our views and open our eyes to things we never saw (or wanted to see).
Back to the book. Each chapter is through the eyes of someone different. There's Tariq's friends, his mom, the shooter, the shooter's friend, people who didn't like Tariq, and a pastor that uses the shooting to further her political career- just to name a few. The book is realistic fiction, but with all the turmoil that the United States is experiencing in regards to race relations it reads much more like nonfiction.
This book will open your eyes to the world around you that you may or may not have experienced. It would be a great choice for a book talk or group discussion. Clearly, I can't say enough about the book! Check out How It Went Down today!
