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    How It Went Down
    How It Went Down
    How It Went Down
    Audiobook7 hours

    How It Went Down

    Written by Kekla Magoon

    Narrated by Cherise Boothe, Hubert Point-Du-Jour, Korey Jackson and

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    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.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateDec 12, 2014
    ISBN9781490631684
    Author

    Kekla Magoon

    Kekla Magoon is the author of many novels and nonfiction books, including The Rock and the River, How It Went Down, The Season of Styx Malone, and Revolution in Our Time: The Black Panther Party’s Promise to the People. Kekla received the 2021 Margaret A. Edwards Award for significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature. She has been a National Book Award finalist in addition to receiving an NAACP Image Award, the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award, a Printz Honor, four Coretta Scott King Honors, and two Walter Award Honors. Kekla teaches writing for children and young adults at Vermont College of Fine Arts. Visit her online at keklamagoon.com.

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    Reviews for How It Went Down

    4/5

    104 ratings24 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Loved this book! Written years before Dear Martin and The Hate U Give, but tackling a similar subject of a black teen being killed by a white man. The great part of this book is that it’s so real - no one knows for sure if the teen was armed, if he threatened someone, if he was thief - we hear from everyone involved with the main character and his city block, and nothing is certain.
    • 4/5
      Timely, street-real and compelling. Readers will race through this book, eager to hear the voices of the people affected by Tariq's killing. We hear from gang members, girlfriends, Tariq's family, the Al-Sharpton-like Reverend Sloan, and people who worked near where Tariq died. Yes, there are obscentites but it's never gratuitous, and there is plenty of dope smoking, drinking and talk about f***ing people up. Beyond all that is a multi-layered look at an all-too-common event that will inspire heavy thought and lively conversation.
    • 5/5
      Dark, intense, but real. I love the full cast recording.
    • 4/5
      Magoon focuses on the shooting of a black teenager and then tells the story from the many voices in his community, including near-strangers, best friends, family, and the people who think they know him best. It's a story about community as much as it is about racial tensions and the brutalizing of young black men. It's a poignant, lyrical story that slowly seeps out the heartbreak on each page. Worth the read.
    • 3/5
      In this novel Magoon uses the viewpoints of 18 characters to look at the shooting death of a Black teenager, Tariq Johnson, by a white man in an unnamed city. These characters include his friends and relatives, a politician, local shopkeepers, men and women, a politician, witnesses and not--a variety of people living or working, or who formerly lived, in the neighborhood. These 18 different viewpoints also show how everyone who knew Tariq knew a different side of him. From his best friend to his younger sister, to the shopkeeper he regularly bought groceries from, to the friends convincing him to join the neighborhood gang--everyone thought they knew him, and all would be surprised at his real self. This did, though, also make the story somewhat hard to follow. Who was he? And what really happened when he was shot? This is never answered definitively, but I think that is part of the point of the story. There is no way to know.I am not the target audience for this YA book. And it very much is a YA book, bringing in concerns of teens everywhere--friendships, the future, school, money, fitting in, hopes and dreams, staying true to yourself, siblings, parents. Even the design of the book feels very YA to me (large chapter heads, lots of blank space). My teen sons both read this for school, and neither enjoyed it. They both found it confusing and "terrible". My kids do not like fiction and only read what fiction is required for school, so it doesn't surprise me that they did not like this. This is a reader's book in construction and lack of resolution.
    • 4/5
      Brilliant and poignant. As intended, the book asks far more questions than it answers, forcing the readers to be conscientious thinkers and analyze their own thoughts. The characters are realistic and relatable. The plot is fascinating and unfolds at a delicate, intriguing pace. Will definitely recommend for my middle school students.
    • 4/5
      A story familiar to any American: in a poor urban neighborhood, there's a scuffle. A white man in a passing car, stops, draws his gun, fires, and a black teenager Tariq Johnson is dead. The police let the shooter go claiming he was exercising self-defense. The novel is told from many voices of Tariq's family, friends, neighbors, and a visiting minister (who is also running for office) who arrives in town to offer his support. They offer conflicting views - was Tariq a gang member or not, did he have a gun or not - as well as memories of Tariq, and their part in the communal grieving process. This highly nuanced book shows that there are no angels but also that there is no one unworthy of empathy.
    • 4/5
      I got way more into this than I was expecting. It’s the story of a shooting in an inner city told from the point of view of different witnesses and people connected to the person who was shot. No one has exactly the same story or feels precisely the same. I tried to understand each perspective and feel what they felt. It’s not really the type of story that gives you any answers. It may change the way you think about things though.
    • 4/5
      Stunning book. I read All American Boys last fall and LOVED it. So friends kept telling me how much this book would grab me and their praise was spot on. Excellent read.
    • 4/5
      Another young adult book from AudioFile Sync free summer audio's. This one is very good. I like this author and would read more by her. It's a story that starts with the killing of a black youth by a white man in the streets of an urban setting. The story examines all the different ways the community experiences and defines this event. This is so well done. I would read more by this author. The audio is read by several narrators and is quite good.
    • 4/5
      A fascinating character study and an extraordinary look at how a singular event can have so many different perspectives. What's most striking here is that despite the multitude of eyewitnesses, and the opinions and assumptions from the author's diverse cast, readers will never get the full story, because the shooter isn't talking and his victim is dead.

      How It Went Down would be an excellent choice for book clubs and teen reading lists. There is so much to discuss here: stereotypes, racism, gang mentality, self-perception, self-defense, murder, and more. While this book mirrors recent incidences across the country, the author downplays any sensationalism and bias, steering readers away from the cliches. Instead, How It Went Down richly captures the range of a community's emotions and the ripple effect an explosive event can have in the lives of so many, even those on the periphery. Mesmerizing and heartbreaking, this is a deeply thoughtful book that reveals the prejudices in all of us. I was riveted.

      With the passing of teen literary giant Walter Dean Meyers, young adult bloggers have been speculating over who will take up his mantle. If this book is any indication of what we can expect in the future, the answer is Kekla Magoon.
    • 3/5
      This was an interesting and relevant read considering what has happened in the US in the past few months and it showed how what people "saw" varied depending on their beliefs, experiences and perceptions. "How it went Down" was narrated by a very large cast of friends, family members, neighbours and witnesses. This gave a range of perspectives on the shooting and provided an interesting insight into gang life and black communities. However, there were just so many of characters that it took me ages to work out who was who each time it was their turn to narrate part of the story which, for me, was the book's downfall.
    • 4/5
      The multiple voices that tell the story in *How It Went Down* constitute a symphony of grief, rage, bewilderment, exploitation, and despair in the aftermath of a black teenager’s shooting death at the hands of a white man. Mirroring the too numerous cases we see in the news these days, the black teen (Tariq Johnson) might or might not have been armed. The shooter (Jack Franklin) might or might not have been justified in his actions. The witnesses—one a would-be do-gooder (white man Brian Trellis) and the rest members of a street gang that Tariq might or might not have belonged to—might or might not be telling the truth. The only thing that’s certain in this narrative—and all of the real-life narratives that this novel emulates—is that truth is a construct and reality (along with meaning) often eludes our grasp.Kekla Magoon skillfully orchestrates eighteen perspectives in telling the story of Tariq Johnson’s death and its aftermath. The shooting creates permanent ripple effects throughout Tariq’s community, among his family, close friends, and acquaintances. Reminiscent of Faulkner’s *As I Lay Dying*, *How It Went Down* eschews any pretense to narrative authority as it relies completely on the inevitable fallibility of first-person narration. Omniscience, Magoon seems to imply, is itself a fiction, and the only truth available to us is the one we are able to construct and live comfortably with.An undeniably stark and powerful work of fiction, this novel addresses one of the sad realities of racism in contemporary American culture. It examines not only the senseless violence that claims the lives of innocent victims—it also takes an unflinching look at the impact of that violence on the ones left behind to mourn.
    • 5/5
      This is a very timely look at the shooting death of a black teen by a while man. It is told from a variety of perspectives – friends of the victim, a friend of the man who shot him, family members, a minister/politician shaped in the form of the Rev. Al Sharpton and various other community members. It is a fascinating trip about how the truth varies from person to person, with the real truth somewhere in between these stories. Loved it.
    • 5/5
      Multi-faced look at a street shooting, black youth, white man. The boy may or may not have been armed. The man may or may not have felt threatened. The boy may or my not have been a member of the local gang. First-person accounts from 10+ witnesses commence from the in-the-moment shooting to the vigils, to the funeral and afterwards. Author Magoon does a good job in giving each character a unique voice, especially the usually-unheard perspectives of the fellow street teens. In the end, there is no clear consensus of "How It Went Down" only an over-riding sense of sadness and loss. For this reader it was, at times, a bit didactic and difficult to keep the characters straight. Nonetheless an important read with the 2014 Ferguson shootings, etc.
    • 5/5
      How it Went Down is a must-read book that is timely and appropriate. After 16 year old Tariq Johnson was shot, friends, family members, and members of the community share their points-of-view on “how it went down.” Kekla Magoon did a great job with weaving these different viewpoints together, and each character had a distinct voice. I always appreciate an author who is able to succeed with this type of writing, as I’ve read many books where the multiple voices idea has flopped. I received a copy of this book in audio format, and at first I was concerned that the wide variety of readers would be confusing, but it turned out to be easy to follow. The readers did an excellent job bringing the words to life.
    • 4/5
      The story of a young African-American male that was shot down on the streets with multiple witnesses is told from a variety of perspectives and points-of-view. This is a very timely book due to all the hate crimes, questionable law enforcement news stories, and protests as of lately in the United States. At times I got lost/confused among all the different perspectives, but I could pretty easily find my place again. The fast pace of the writing is great and I do like that the story of this young man was told in this format. A great young adult read!
    • 5/5
      A very timely novel and an easy read, How it Went Down was both fascinating and heartbreaking. It is the story of a young black man (16) shot down while on his way home from buying groceries, told from the perspectives of the various people in his community--both those who were there and those who weren't. The voices of the various first-person narrators are both clear and distinct, and bring the story alive. Furthermore, Magoon does an excellent job of showing the impact the shooting has on everyone in the community, from the grocer who was following the young man to give him his change, to the neighborhood gangsters who watch the event, to the nationally known pastor who comes to town to eulogize the boy.
    • 5/5
      Tariq Johnson was shot. Was it murder, self-defense, or random? Tariq was black, his shooter, Franklin is white. The community speaks out, and believe me you hear many different scenarios, not the least of which, is Tariq's mother, grandmother, and sister who are all besides themselves with grief. Franklin claims it was self-defense, but did Tariq even have a weapon as he left the small corner store? Outrage in the form of justice and revenge come out as the press, religious leaders, friends, family, and acquaintances say their peace. How It Went Down is downright powerful. I can't find any other words that would convey its message more clearly. Everyone and everybody sees Tariq's death differently. Will his death make a difference? Will it ignite a revolt? Will is heal a community or tear it apart? What will it do to the sister who loved him with all her heart? These are questions that cannot be answered in a fleeting moment...they will live inside for days, weeks, months, and years to come. Masterful writing with a complex message. I cannot say enough about this book.
    • 4/5
      How It Went Down is not a book I would typically ever read, and I certainly would have never picked it up in audio format if I hadn’t been gifted it through LibraryThing’s Early Reviewers. While I enjoyed reading the story of the search for T’s murder, it definitely wasn’t something I would seek out again. For one, it just wasn’t my type of book. I’m not a big fan of the gang shooting themed books – no idea why, they just don’t appeal to me. Perhaps because I haven’t had much experience with them. Second, there were so many POV’s is had my head reeling! Ya’ll know I can barely follow three points of view, not four or five! Regardless of my like-but-not-love of this book, How It Went Down was a turning point in my love of reading. I didn’t realize I that I could love I listening to audiobooks. I thought since my memory was so spazzy, I wouldn’t be able to follow along, but that was so not my experience – It was actually the writing I couldn’t follow. In fact, I’ve found a way to enjoy doing my pesky chores. Instead of leaving them to the last-minute, I now spend my time finding excuses to do my chores so I can get more audiobook reading in!So while I wasn’t completely sold on How It Went Down, I’m excited to see where my audiobook journey takes me!
    • 2/5
      The reason I gave this book such a low rating is because I didn't enjoy it at all. To me it had way too many characters going back and forth telling the same story. It felt like a struggle to finish this book. There were days I just couldn't get into it.
    • 4/5
      Told from multiple character perspectives, _How It Went Down_ compels readers to bear witness to the murder of sixteen year old Tariq Johnson. The novel spans the seven days after his death. Memory is a faulty thing, and multiple witnesses will see different things, hold different truths. Was Tariq a gang initiated thug carrying a gun, or a friend and loving big brother bringing home groceries? How are we shaped by where we call home? Which persona is the sum of a person? And how does your life impact those around you? This ripped-from-the-headlines read is worthy of your time.
    • 5/5
      Ripped from the Michael Brown headlines, YA author Kekla Magoon's October 2014 novel almost reads like a reenactment of the Ferguson tragedy. A fictional Underhill neighborhood is dominated by two gangs. Tariq Johnson has resisted the intense pressure to join, although two of his friends have succumbed, and one is in jail for a murder he did not commit. Just like in Ferguson, through a series of events that might be common and harmless on any other day, Tariq is murdered by a white man who is then released on bail. The community roils, an Al Sharpton-like candidate comes to help the Johnson family, and all of Tariq's neighborhood and family connections and loyalties are unraveled and revealed in a tense nine days timeframe.The tragic story is told from all points of view and secrets are revealed by all narrators, to build a complete picture of a boy and the minefields of his neighborhood. This is a must read for all, but especially if you are white, with friends who start out their lecture with "I'm not a racist, but...". Please buy them this excellent, memorable book.
    • 5/5
      People see what they expect to see. And no two people see things exactly the same way. Tariq Johnson was a sixteen-year-old black boy shot by a white man. This book begins with accounts of the shooting by the various eyewitnesses. But none of the accounts match. Did Tariq have a gun? Was he a gang member? Was the shooting self-defense? His neighborhood is turned upside down by the events. The lives of the witnesses will never be the same. A very timely story with a powerful message that never feels preachy. Richly detailed characters pulled me in and held me throughout. Highly recommended!