Tyler Johnson Was Here

January 15, 2018
Cole’s debut novel, based on events in his own life, follows Marvin Johnson, a college-bound senior at Alabama’s Sojourner Truth High School. From the opening pages, Marvin and his twin brother, Tyler, navigate racism, drug dealers, and police violence, their lives governed by the “talk that all decent black mothers and fathers give to their children at least once a month. The You-Live-in-a-White-Man’s-World-So-Be-Careful talk.” Marvin’s life takes a turn from hanging out with his “high-ability geek” friends, doing homework, and binge-watching A Different World when a party ends in a shoot-out, a police raid, and Tyler’s disappearance. Periodic letters from Marvin’s imprisoned father convey a poignant vulnerability, while Marvin’s penetrating narrative voice captures the relentless anxiety and questioning that accompanies every choice he faces, from how to address Tyler’s friendship with a local drug dealer to how to behave when witnessing police beat an innocent black teenager. It’s a distressing yet empowering portrait of a black teenager confronting relentless racism, brutality, and tragedy. Ages 14–up. Agent: Lauren Abramo, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret.

Marvin and his twin, Tyler, are anticipating a junk food binge after a convenience store run when they hear: Pop!Pop!Pop! JaQwan Kelly's narration turns from lighthearted to fearful, and he amps up tension when an aggressive white policeman draws a gun on the innocent black teens. This is only the first conflict Kelly dramatizes in a neighborhood that has "garden gnomes with bullet holes." He expresses Marvin's many forms of vulnerability, which change as quickly as that first scene. Marvin's worry about Tyler turns to fear when his brother goes missing, and then to anger and sadness when Tyler is killed by a policeman. Speedy emotional shifts mirror the story's fast pace as Kelly recounts Marvin's painful journey, marked by grief, outrage, and the realization of his true beliefs and needs. S.W � AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine