I Am Alfonso Jones -- Tony Medina, Paperback

The Latinidad List of Best Books of 2017, Latinidad
Best Books for Teens, New York Public Library
In the Margins Top Ten List, In the Margins
Top Ten Great Graphic Novels for Teens, American Library Association (ALA)
Ten Best Graphic Novels of 2017, Forbes
Choices, Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)
Skipping Stones Honor Award, Skipping Stones Magazine
Best Books for Kids, New York Public Library

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

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

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


Review Citation(s):
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

About the Author

Tony Medina is the author of six beloved books for young readers, as well as multiple volumes of poetry for adults. A Pushcart Prize-nominated poet and a professor of creative writing at Howard University, Dr. Medina is a two-time winner of the Paterson Prize for Books for Young People. He lives in the Washington, DC area.

Stacey Robinson es profesor de diseño gráfico en la Universidad de Illinois y becario Arthur Schomburg con una maestría en arte de la Universidad de Buffalo. Como parte del equipo Black Kirby, trabaja con su colega artista John Jennings para crear novelas gráficas, exposiciones en galerías y presentaciones que deconstruyen el trabajo de la leyenda del cómic Jack Kirby en espacios reinventados de la resistencia negra inspirados en el hip-hop, la religión, el arte y la ciencia. Robinson vive en Illinois y se puede encontrar en Twitter (@ProfSARobinson) e Instagram (@StaceyARobinson).