I will be enthusiastically booktalking How it Went Down
by Kekla Magoon and look forward to sharing student reactions to this realistic
title which pulls you in and doesn't lessen its grip on your emotions. Yes, How it Went Down does center on the shooting of a hooded African American youth,
Tariq Johnson, by a white man and thus immediately makes one think of the
Trayvon Martin case. However, I believe
this book does much more by relating the thoughts and feelings of multiple
narrators over a two week period. This method allows award-winning author
Magoon to show how even the people who were standing right there cannot
consistently recall an event. A
literature circle or book group would find much to discuss.
In How it Went Down many characters are
impacted by the shooting: friends of
Tariq, neighborhood gang members and their girlfriends, and, of course, his
family. We hear the stories from over a dozen distinct voices and that can add
some confusion at times, but isn’t it so reflective of the real world (think
Ferguson) where everyone sees through his/her own lens?
This book should be considered for a summer reading
assignment and we should expect to see it on future Abe Lincoln state award
lists. Highly recommended.
