The story: When a cop thinks Rashad is threatening a lady at the corner market (he's not), he takes the kid down and beats him senseless. Rashad ends up in the hospital, but figures it could have been worse--he could have been dead. Fellow senior Quinn witnesses part of the beating, and is horrified because he knows the cop: Paul Galuzzo has been a family friend and substitute father to him for years. But does being a good guy excuse what Paul did? Rashad has to figure out how to deal with his new reality, while Quinn has to figure out whether to tell the truth and change his own, or just walk away like he's done so many times before.
June Cleaver's ratings: Language R; Violence PG-13; Sexual content PG; Nudity PG; Substance abuse PG-13; Magic & the occult G; GLBT content G; adult themes (police brutality, racial stereotyping) PG-13; overall rating R.
Liz's comments: This is a thought-provoking and timely story. Rashad's story is written by Reynolds and Quinn's by Kiely, and both have an excellent feel for the inner voice of their characters. However, the explicit language (one F-bomb per page is how it seems) renders it far better for high school than for middle school, despite its 8-up rating in SLJ.
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