Pulitzer prize winning journalist and author Fox Butterfield leads the reader by the heart in his beautifully written book. All God's Children: The Bosket Family and the American Tradition of Violence is a candid look at a family from the days of slavery to the present time.

Willie Bosket was born in 1962. Once a beautiful and charismatic boy, his actions provided the reason for New York to start charging children as young as 13 as adults. Mayor Koch has dubbed him “a mad dog killer”. His crime sprees started even before he was old enough to go to school. He comes from a family of desperate and angry violent offenders.
Willie's great great grandfather was a slave. He was sold several times even taken from his wife and kids without time to say goodbye. He had a propensity to violence. Once took the whip away from the slave owner and turned it on him. His great grandfather was still a young man when the slaves were freed. He believed he had earned the mule and land the government promised former slaves. When it became clear that wasn't going to happen he became a share cropper.

Though it was a trap for many former slaves, he still managed to create a decent life, becoming deacon in his church. He once watched as a relative was hung in front of an audience. His violence was first directed at his wife, then stealing and beating unsuspecting people of the community. Willie's Dad followed the same path. He killed two people and ended up in jail, so Willie spent his life without his father. His mom said he looked like his dad and was going to end up just like him. Willie didn't let her down.

Willie was always rejected by his mother and he felt it. She was angry with his father and their son looked and acted just like him, a frustration felt and uttered by the mother of Willie's dad, grandfather and great grandfather.

This book focuses on South Carolina because that is where this family originates. The author shows us how at different times in history violence was accepted and a tool for respect. A man was expected to carry a gun. A time when duels were the norm. Violence brought respect and power. When the slaves were freed the KKK used violence to control and gain power. The Bosket family followed those rules. The tougher they acted, the more people would show respect out of fear. It was something Willie strove to attain even before he was six years old.