"Little Boy Lost" by J.D. Trafford Lil' Review

Book: Little Boy Lost

Author: J.D. Trafford

Release Date: July 18th, 2017

Publisher: Thomas & Mercer

My Rating: ★★★

Synopsis: In a city divided and broken, this revelation will set it on fire…

Attorney Justin Glass’s practice, housed in a shabby office on the north side of Saint Louis, isn’t doing so well that he can afford to work for free. But when eight-year-old Tanisha Walker offers him a jar full of change to find her missing brother, he doesn’t have the heart to turn her away.

Justin had hoped to find the boy alive and well. But all that was found of Devon Walker was his brutally murdered body—and the bodies of twelve other African American teenagers, all discarded like trash in a mass grave. Each had been reported missing. And none had been investigated.

As simmering racial tensions explode into violence, Justin finds himself caught in the tide. And as he gives voice to the discontent plaguing the city’s forgotten and ignored, he vows to search for the killer who preys upon them.

Disclaimer: I was provided a free ARC in exchange for an honest review. Thank you Little Bird Publicity for the opportunity to review this book.

      So this is going to be a very quick review because I don't have too much to say about this book. This book is marketed as a book about racial unrest surrounding the murders of 12 black boys, and while the does happen, it's about like maybe 1/4 of the book, if that. I felt like the book could have done so much more on the topic of violence against black people, especially black children, and the unrest in our country. As a black girl in America, this is a subject that is very personal to me. I appreciate the prejudices shown in the book and how it highlighted how messed up our system is, but I felt like it didn't do a good enough job. Most of the book followed the main character, Justin, and his everyday life and dealing being a better father for his daughter, which is fine and all, but that's not what the book was marketed as.

      Don't get me wrong, I thought the book was alright. Reading about Justin as a lawyer and all of the politics reminded me a lot of watching my dad as a lawyer growing up and the days when he would take me and my brothers to his law office or court when no one else could watch us. But something about the book didn't feel authentic enough. The author of the book is a white male who is trying to write as a black male. I appreciate that this story is being told, no matter who is telling it, but I feel like we could have gotten a better story if it was from an OWN voice, or at least a PoC who can identify better with the main character. The author no matter how much research he has done can never identify with the struggles an actual PoC has gone through.