bird words

I found myself unable to put this book down while simultaneously finding it hard to read. Not because of the writing or the story; on the contrary, I absolutely adored both the writing and the story. But because of the subject matter. It is always hard to read about tragedies involving children being shot by adults and that is the center of this book.

This book starts out with Tariq Johnson being shot by a white man and the rest of the book is told in vignettes from multiple characters trying to suss out what actually happened while dealing with the fact that this is tearing a community apart and bringing a small town into national spotlight.

The author states that this is inspired by multiple real life tragedies that mirror the story told in this book and I can feel confident recommending this to anyone who is familiar with them and those that are not familiar with what is happening in the United States. Everyone should read this book.