‘This Is My America’ Breaks the Mold of a Typical YA Novel

Debut author Kim Johnson’s new novel grapples with the criminal justice system and being Black in America

L'Oreal Thompson Payton
ZORA
Published in
5 min readJul 21, 2020

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A headshot portrait of Kim Johnson.
Kim Johnson. Photo: JBoy Photography

When Kim Johnson was writing This Is My America back in 2015, there’s no way she could have predicted her debut YA novel about racial justice and America’s judicial system would be so…

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L'Oreal Thompson Payton
ZORA
Writer for

L’Oreal is a freelance writer and editor who’s dedicated to uplifting and inspiring Black women and girls through storytelling. Learn more at LTintheCity.com.