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It would be a great addition to any high school library. I Am Alfonso Jones is a powerful and timely read that introduces many different types of artistic storytelling techniques. These are all themes that need to be addressed, but at times, I felt it distracted from the central goal of the book. My only criticism of the book is that while I appreciated the important messages, it has a lot going on. The classroom scenes were especially affecting as the teacher works to guide the students through the horrible wake of Alonso’s death. Medina also looks into the life of the policeman himself and the possible effects the shooting has had on his mental health. The reader sees the aftermath of Alfonzo’s death through the eyes of his civil rights activist grandfather, his girlfriend, his mother and others.

In addition, his class had been preparing Hamlet for an upcoming show, and with this comes many literary references and allusions. After his death, Alfonso boards a ghost train filled with others who have been killed in police shootings. The author and illustrators use many perspectives to relay both the plot itself and the overall messages of the book. I Am Alfonso Jones tells the story of the lead up and the aftermath of that shooting death. He sees Alfonso hold up a coat hanger while trying on a suit, interprets it as a gun, and shoots him. Reports of a aggravated customer at the department store sends the off-duty police officer who is working as a security guard on high alert. Yet, when DNA evidence exonerates him for the crime, the family has reason to celebrate, and Alfonso heads out to buy a new suit. Alfonso Jones is a busy young man: playing trumpet in the band, acting in the school play, maintaining his grades, working as a bike messenger… all while trying to deal with the fact that his father has been in jail for many years for a crime he did not commit.

I am alfonso jones