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Reviews tagging 'Racism'
Just Mercy (Adapted for Young Adults): A True Story of the Fight for Justice by Bryan Stevenson
2 reviews
kelly_e's review against another edition
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.75
Title: Just Mercy (adapted for Young Adults): A True Story of Fight for Justice
Author: Bryan Stevenson
Genre: Nonfiction Social Justice
Rating: 4.75
Pub Date: September 10, 2019
T H R E E • W O R D S
Shocking • Compassionate • Unforgettable
📖 S Y N O P S I S
Founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, Bryan Stevenson offers a glimpse into the lives of the wrongfully convicted and how his team fights for their freedom. Through various examples and real life experiences he is campaigning to end mass incarceration, excessive punishment and racial inequality in the justice system.
💭 T H O U G H T S
When I picked up this book, I hasn't realized it was a YA adaption, and I am not sure what the differences are, but the message is the same. Just Mercy explores the mistrust of a justice system. It is a book meant to make you uncomfortable, to question your own actions and confront your own biases and naiveté. There were some instances talked about that were infuriating. For example, when the author discussed being stripped searched going into visit a client by a prison guard for no reason. To think the stories put forth here are just a small subset of all of the cases that happen across the system. It opened my eyes and also opened up so much discussion.
Stevenson puts forth the stories with compassion, clarity and a call to action. It is at times very cut and dry but made for easy understanding. This is a book that will make you believe in humanity and yet also make you cringe at humanity. Should be mandatory reading in schools.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• everyone!
• educators
• law students
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"I left his office extremely frustrated. Reading the record had shown me that there were people who were willing to ignore evidence, logic, and common sense. Their only goal was to convict someone and reassure the community that the crime had been solved and the murderer punished."
"I guess I'd always known but never fully considered that being broken is what makes us human. We all have our reasons. Sometimes we're fractured by the choices we make; sometimes we're shattered by things out of our control. But our brokenness is also the source of our common humanity, the basis for our shared search for comfort, meaning, and healing. Our shared vulnerability and imperfection is what gives us each our capacity for compassion.
We have a choice. We can embrace our humanness, which means embracing our broken natures and the compassion that remains our best hope for healing. Or we can deny our brokenness, deny compassion, and, as a result, deny our own humanity."
Author: Bryan Stevenson
Genre: Nonfiction Social Justice
Rating: 4.75
Pub Date: September 10, 2019
T H R E E • W O R D S
Shocking • Compassionate • Unforgettable
📖 S Y N O P S I S
Founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, Bryan Stevenson offers a glimpse into the lives of the wrongfully convicted and how his team fights for their freedom. Through various examples and real life experiences he is campaigning to end mass incarceration, excessive punishment and racial inequality in the justice system.
💭 T H O U G H T S
When I picked up this book, I hasn't realized it was a YA adaption, and I am not sure what the differences are, but the message is the same. Just Mercy explores the mistrust of a justice system. It is a book meant to make you uncomfortable, to question your own actions and confront your own biases and naiveté. There were some instances talked about that were infuriating. For example, when the author discussed being stripped searched going into visit a client by a prison guard for no reason. To think the stories put forth here are just a small subset of all of the cases that happen across the system. It opened my eyes and also opened up so much discussion.
Stevenson puts forth the stories with compassion, clarity and a call to action. It is at times very cut and dry but made for easy understanding. This is a book that will make you believe in humanity and yet also make you cringe at humanity. Should be mandatory reading in schools.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• everyone!
• educators
• law students
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"I left his office extremely frustrated. Reading the record had shown me that there were people who were willing to ignore evidence, logic, and common sense. Their only goal was to convict someone and reassure the community that the crime had been solved and the murderer punished."
"I guess I'd always known but never fully considered that being broken is what makes us human. We all have our reasons. Sometimes we're fractured by the choices we make; sometimes we're shattered by things out of our control. But our brokenness is also the source of our common humanity, the basis for our shared search for comfort, meaning, and healing. Our shared vulnerability and imperfection is what gives us each our capacity for compassion.
We have a choice. We can embrace our humanness, which means embracing our broken natures and the compassion that remains our best hope for healing. Or we can deny our brokenness, deny compassion, and, as a result, deny our own humanity."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Police brutality, and Racial slurs
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Murder, Gun violence, and Death
Minor: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Rape, and Sexual assault
hgaudreau's review
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Racism, and Police brutality
Minor: Rape and Sexual assault
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