Review: Tyler Johnson Was Here

Tyler Johnson Was Here by Jay Coles
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Jay Coles may be young, but don't you dare count that against him. Not when he's got a debut novel so stark and powerful as this one. Cut from much the same cloth as All American Boys, The Hate U Give, and Dear Martin, Tyler Johnson Was Here brings Black Lives Matter to the forefront of YA once again. It's the story of two black boys, twins Tyler and Marvin Johnson, both very smart and very bright and very vivacious, but they're starting to drift apart a bit lately...and then Tyler turns up dead, and video leaks revealing it's a cop who killed him. That much is in the blurb that's been known about the book for months, but what's a little surprising is that this horrific act actually doesn't catalyze the events of the book from the beginning. Instead, it happens more in the middle. I actually appreciated that the book and its marketing were more upfront about what happens, rather than leaving it to be a twist for shock factor or something.

What really stands out about this book is that Tyler isn't a perfect angel. He makes bad choices, hangs out with the wrong people (Johntae, in particular, reeks of so much toxic masculinity.) Still, though, winding up dead for his choices wouldn't happen...in a just world. Which, of course, is precisely the point.

But Tyler and Marvin, they're the kind of characters who pop off the page. Marvin, of course, has to because he's the narrator, but Tyler, as his old womb-mate...well, nobody else can tell Tyler's story the way Marvin can. And all the while, despite the nastiness Marvin gets from the police and Principal Dodson and the like, he's got a great support system from his friends G-mo and Ivy, as well as his girlfriend Faith, and of course his parents. Though we only get to see the twins' dad through letters written from prison, he shows his love just as strongly as Mama does.

The best parts of the book, for me, are the little things in life for which Marvin shows such appreciation. His being a fanboy - specifically, of A Different World, and building on that, his application to Howard University (the other big roll call in this book, other than the names of police brutality victims with Tyler Johnson included, being famous Howard alumni like Taraji P. Henson.) The love of family and friends. And, hell, I couldn't resist a nice chuckle at Marvin talking about "unapologetically masturbating." Wish I could know how that feels, lol.

There's a lot left open at the end of this book, but that works very well for it, because it shows better, and more implicitly, how much work needs to be done to right the wrongs done by racism to this society.

Whatever Jay Coles writes next, you'll be damned sure I'm reading it as soon as possible.

Now to get my work to finally stock this book. My friends and I have now tried TWICE to bring Tyler Johnson to our bosses' attention. Hopefully we won't have to wait for the third time to be the charm on that front.

P.S. I actually had a character named Tyler Jackson in my own books, but after I found out this book was coming out, I decided to rename my character to avoid confusion if and when I ever get published.

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