“I learned the hard way that acceptance gained by pretzeling yourself into other people’s visions of you never lasts.”
― Kim Johnson, Invisible Son
“There’s no such thing as innocent until proven guilty—it’s just guilty until proven innocent. No one really wants the truth. They just want it to be done with.”
― Kim Johnson, Invisible Son
“You can’t heal somebody else, Andre. All you can do is be the best person you can and hope they do the same.”
― Kim Johnson, Invisible Son
Genres: Young Adult - Mystery - Contemporary Fiction - Realistic Fiction - Thriller - Social Justice - Family - Mystery Thriller
From the award-winning and critically acclaimed author of This Is My America comes another thriller about a wrongly accused teen desperate to recclaim both his innocence and his first love.
Life can change in an instant.
When you’re wrongfully accused of a crime.
When a virus shuts everything down.
When the girl you love moves on.
Andre Jackson is determined to reclaim his identity. But returning from juvie doesn’t feel like coming home. His Portland, Oregon, neighborhood is rapidly gentrifying, and COVID-19 shuts down school before he can return. And Andre’s suspicions about his arrest for a crime he didn’t commit even taint his friendships. It’s as if his whole life has been erased.
The one thing Andre is counting on is his relationship with the Whitaker kids—especially his longtime crush, Sierra. But Sierra’s brother Eric is missing, and the facts don’t add up as their adoptive parents fight to keep up the act that their racially diverse family is picture-perfect. If Andre can find Eric, he just might uncover the truth about his own arrest. But in a world where power is held by a few and Andre is nearly invisible, searching for the truth is a dangerous game.
Critically acclaimed author Kim Johnson delivers another social justice thriller that shines a light on being young and Black in America—perfect for fans of The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas and Dear Justyce by Nic Stone.