Hush by Jacqueline Woodson

Daddy stared out the window without saying anything.  I wanted to tell him he did the right thing, that it was better this way.  I lay my head on his shoulder.  It felt bonier than I remembered.  His legs felt bony, too.  Outside, the sky was off-white, like a dirty sheet had been laid across it.  The words didn't come.  We just sat their like two empty bags of skin and bone... staring at the dirty-sheet sky.
- Hush

Think of your favorite toy.  The posters that hang on your bedroom walls.  The photographs that sit propped up on your nightstand.  Your pet.  Your best friend.

Now imagine leaving it all behind. All of it.  Everything.  Even your name.  Well, that is what happens to Toswaih Greene... or should I say Evie Thomas... the moment her father chooses to defend his race instead of his fellow police officers. 

When two cops from Mr. Greene's department shoot an innocent 15 year old boy, Toswaih's father must make a difficult decision.  Turning the cops in will mean putting his family in danger and forcing them to leave their home in Denver and enter into the Witness Protection Program.

Hush is a beautifully woven tale about the difficulty of doing the right thing and the way our choices have inevitable effects on those around us. It is about the power of love in the face of loss and the unique strength of the human spirit to overcome.  It is about all of the parts of who we are.