One of the Good Ones

One of the Good Ones
Maika and Maritza Moulite
384 pages
Inkyard Press, 2020

From Goodreads: ISN'T BEING HUMAN ENOUGH?

When teen social activist and history buff Kezi Smith is killed under mysterious circumstances after attending a social justice rally, her devastated sister Happi and their family are left reeling in the aftermath. As Kezi becomes another immortalized victim in the fight against police brutality, Happi begins to question the idealized way her sister is remembered. Perfect. Angelic.

One of the good ones.

Even as the phrase rings wrong in her mind—why are only certain people deemed worthy to be missed?—Happi and her sister Genny embark on a journey to honor Kezi in their own way, using an heirloom copy of The Negro Motorist Green Book as their guide. But there's a twist to Kezi's story that no one could've ever expected—one that will change everything all over again.

 

Hey, you. STOP. Stop what you are doing right now and preorder this book. Or if it’s after January 5th, go buy yourself a copy right now. I’ll wait. You will not have regrets and I could tell you why but that would be spoilers. 

Kenzi is a social justice YouTuber ready to turn eighteen and spread her wings in a wider scope, when tragedy strikes. The first half of the book shows us what has happened to Kenzi’s family in the months after her suspicious death while in police custody. Whether in person or on television, we’ve all seen the mothers of those taken by police, crying out for their babies, but this book goes far beyond that and shows how the whole family unit suffers, and in fact grows, as they try to understand and heal together. In her wake, Kenzi has left two sisters who don’t understand each other, and two pastor parents who are trying to be a rock for their girls but are suffering through their own issues as well. Before she died, Kenzi had planned a road trip to celebrate her graduation, following Route 66 using The Green Book as a guide (if you don’t know look it up.) Now her sisters and two of her friends will take the trip together and chronicle it for her YouTube followers. 

Then comes the second half of the book AND THE HUGE GIGANTIC TWIST I did not see coming and is why I’m pleading to you again, buy yourself this book and consume it ASAP. 

But I digress. The road trip portion of the book was my favorite part, I really enjoyed following the group as they visited boarded up Green Book hotels, museums, monuments, and even the Grand Canyon (admittedly slightly off course.) Heading into this I knew the basic history of the Green Book but I find myself even more fascinated now and I’ll be looking up a digital copy for myself and exploring more. 

Of course one of the main themes is the title itself, One of the Good Ones. The belief among whites that there are “good ones” and “bad ones” when it comes to black people in America. The “good ones” who study and work hard, are “articulate,” and fall within the whites narrow definition of what makes a good person. Then there are the “bad ones” who are seen as less ambitious, talk loudly in a vernacular white people feel threatened by, and presumably push drugs. These judgements rely on what we see at first glance and fail to take into account black people's literal humanity. This is something Kenzi's sister Happi thinks about frequently during the road trip; something we should all spend more time thinking about.

I loved One of The Good Ones, written by the same sister team who brought us Dear Haiti, From Alaine last year. I’m giving it 4.5 stars because even though I loved the book on so many different levels, I think it could have been better with one less POV, a shorter first half, and an even greater emphasis on the road trip. But seriously, go get it.