I Am Alfonso Jones

The Hate U Give meets The Lovely Bones in this unflinching graphic novel about the afterlife of a young man killed by an off-duty police officer, co-illustrated by New York Times bestselling artist John Jennings.

Alfonso Jones can't wait to play the role of Hamlet in his school's hip-hop rendition of the classic Shakespearean play. He also wants to let his best friend, Danetta, know how he really feels about her. But as he is buying his first suit, an off-duty police officer mistakes a clothes hanger for a gun, and he shoots Alfonso.

When Alfonso wakes up in the afterlife, he's on a ghost train guided by well-known victims of police shootings, who teach him what he needs to know about this subterranean spiritual world. Meanwhile, Alfonso's family and friends struggle with their grief and seek justice for Alfonso in the streets. As they confront their new realities, both Alfonso and those he loves realize the work that lies ahead in the fight for justice.

In the first graphic novel for young readers to focus on police brutality and the Black Lives Matter movement, as in Hamlet, the dead shall speak-and the living yield even more surprises.

Foreword by Bryan Stevenson, Executive Director of the Equal Justice Initiative and author of Just Mercy

Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Tu Books
Published: 10/10/2017
ISBN: 9781620142639
Pages: 176
Weight: 0.80lbs
Size: 8.90h x 6.10w x 0.60d

Review Citations: Kirkus Reviews 09/01/2017
Booklist 09/15/2017 pg. 43
School Library Journal 10/01/2017 pg. 115
Publishers Weekly 10/02/2017
Bulletin of Ctr for Child Bks 10/01/2017
Voice of Youth Advocates 10/01/2017 - Recommended - Better Than Most
Foreword 10/26/2017
Library Journal 01/01/2018 pg. 85
Horn Book Magazine 03/01/2018 pg. 90
Hornbook Guide to Children 07/01/2018 - Superior,Well Above Average

Accelerated Reader Quiz #/Name: 198184 / I Am Alfonso Jones
Reading Level: 4.2 / Interest Level: Upper Grade / Point Value: 2