About the Book
When sixteen-year-old Tariq Johnson dies from two gunshot wounds, his community is thrown into an uproar. Tariq was black. The shooter, Jack Franklin, is white. In the aftermath of Tariq's death, everyone has something to say, but no two accounts of the events line up. Day by day, new twists further obscure the truth. Tariq's friends, family, and community struggle to make sense of the tragedy, and to cope with the hole left behind when a life is cut short. In their own words, they grapple for a way to say with certainty: This is how it went down.
About the Author :
Kekla Magoon is the Margaret A. Edwards Award-winning author of more than a dozen books for young readers. Revolution in Our Time was shortlisted for the National Book Award and The Rock and the River won the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Author Award. She is also the coauthor, with Ilyasah Shabazz, of X: A Novel, which was long-listed for the National Book Award and received an NAACP Image Award and a Coretta Scott King Honor. She serves on the faculty at Vermont College of Fine Arts.
Patricia R. Floyd has narrated dozens of audiobooks throughout her career, including Denise Nicholas' Freshwater Road and Ellease Southerland's Let the Lion Eat Straw. Balanced with her audiobook work, she has directed several plays at Stamford Theatre Works. She has won five AudioFile Earphones Awards.
Brian Hutchison is an Earphones Award-winning audiobook narrator and a professional theater actor who has appeared in numerous Broadway, off Broadway, and regional plays.
Kevin R. Free is an audiobook narrator and the winner of numerous AudioFile Earphones Awards and several AudioFile best narrations of the year selections. Known for his work with young-adult novels, he has read titles by Rick Riordan, Walter Dean Myers, and Joe Haldeman. In 2011 he was named a Best Voice in Young Adult and Fantasy from AudioFile magazine for his narration of Myers' The Cruisers: Checkmate.
Ezra Knight has appeared in Law & Order and many national commercials, including those for Bank of America and Excedrin. He also has extensive stage experience, which earned him a Helen Hayes Award nomination for his role in Rita Dove's The Darker Face of the Earth.
Shari Peele is an audiobook narrator whose readings include In the Doctor's Bed by Brenda Jackson, Man Enough for Me by Rhonda Bowen, When I Get Where I'm Going by Cheryl Robinson, and Give Me Fever by Niobia Bryant.
Peter Jay Fernandez is an accomplished audiobook narrator who has won three AudioFile Earphones Awards and an Audie Award in 2009. He has also appeared on television, film, and stage. His appearances include roles in Law & Order, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and the musical Thunder Knocking on the Door.
Myra Lucretia Taylor is an award-winning actress who has appeared on Broadway, off Broadway, in many theaters across the country, and internationally. Her television and film credits include Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Atlanta, The Big Sick, Bushwick, and Catfight.
Korey Jackson, an Earphones Award-winning narrator, is an actor, known for his roles in the films 37, Life Itself, and Anesthesia. He earned his MFA in acting from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.
Avery Glymph is a classically trained actor who has appeared on stage and in films and television shows, including Spin City, Law & Order, Thirteen Conversations about One Thing, and The X-Files.
Cherise Boothe, an Earphones Award-winning narrator, has worked extensively in theater, film, television, and narration. She has appeared in numerous regional plays, as well as in television shows such as The Good Wife, Law & Order: SVU, and Gossip Girl. She holds an MFA in acting from New York University. She was a finalist in 2015 for the prestigious Audie Award for best multivoiced narration.
Review :
"A particularly timely tale that can create dialogue and provide understanding about the decisions other people make and the actions they take."
-- "VOYA (starred review)"
"A powerful novel that will resonate with fans of Myster's Monster and Woodson's Miracle's Boys."
-- "Horn Book"
"Cherise Booth anchors this production with her performance as world-weary Jennica, a teen we meet when she tries to save her schoolmate, Tariq Johnson...As Tariq's family, other teens, and neighborhood stalwarts can't agree on the facts or on what they mean, the full-cast approach highlights the way people's expectations and assumptions influence what they see and believe. Timely, but also timeless in its exploration of the mysteries at the core of being human."
-- "AudioFile"
"Kekla Magoon's How It Went Down about a black teen who is shot by a white man, is...just the right title for young adults grappling with the headlines streaming in every day."
-- "School Library Journal"
"Kekla Magoon's books just keep getting better...It's an important, compelling story that everyone should read, especially high school students trying to make sense of our supposed post-racial world."
-- "BookPage"
"Magoon masterfully captures the cycle of urban violence and the raw emotions of the young people who can't escape its impact."
-- "Publishers Weekly (starred review)"
"The layered voices tell a story both simple and complicated, heartbreaking and maddening."
-- "Chicago Tribune"
"The many voices provide poignant insights into the forces at play in the impoverished neighborhoods, where joining a gang is tough to resist, but the various perspectives also offer compelling and plausible insights into the way perceptions and preconceptions shape narratives and affect our actions."
-- "Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books"
"This sobering yet satisfying novel leaves readers to ponder the complex questions it raises."
-- "Kirkus Reviews (starred review)"
