How It Went Down [Paperback]

A Coretta Scott King Author Honor 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.

How It Went Downis a timely story by acclaimed author Kekla Magoon who won the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award forThe Rock and the River, and whose bookX :A Novel(written with Ilyasah Shabazz) was longlisted for the National Book Award.

This title has Common Core connections.

Brilliantly crafted, heart-wrenching, and unforgettable. Laurie Halse Anderson, New York Times-bestselling author of Speak

The layered voices tell a story both simple and complicated, heartbreaking and maddening. The Chicago Tribune

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, A Teen Top Pick

InHow It Went Down, Kekla Magoon deftly renders us witnesses to an all-too-common news flash in uncommon, unflinching prose. Gripping to the end. Rita Williams-Garcia Newbery Honor winner, National Book Award finalist, and Coretta Scott King Award winner

A hard-hitting look at the ripple effects of one act of violence on an entire community.How It Went Downis engrossing and real--it's the right book at the right time. Coe Booth, LA Times Book Prize winner

Thoughtful and compassionate, beautifully cl³.