International phenomenon Angie Thomas revisits Garden Heights seventeen years before the events of The Hate U Give in this searing and poignant exploration of Black boyhood and manhood.
If there’s one thing seventeen-year-old Maverick Carter knows, it’s that a real man takes care of his family. As the son of a former gang legend, Mav does that the only way he knows how: dealing for the King … knows how: dealing for the King Lords. With this money he can help his mom, who works two jobs while his dad’s in prison.
Life’s not perfect, but with a fly girlfriend and a cousin who always has his back, Mav’s got everything under control.
Until, that is, Maverick finds out he’s a father.
Suddenly he has a baby, Seven, who depends on him for everything. But it’s not so easy to sling dope, finish school, and raise a child. So when he’s offered the chance to go straight, he takes it. In a world where he’s expected to amount to nothing, maybe Mav can prove he’s different.
When King Lord blood runs through your veins, though, you can’t just walk away. Loyalty, revenge, and responsibility threaten to tear Mav apart, especially after the brutal murder of a loved one. He’ll have to figure out for himself what it really means to be a man.
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KEEP READING BUT FIRST READ THE HATE YOU GIVE THEN YOU WOULD UNDERSTAND IT BETTER
Angie Thomas
Oh how I loved Mavs story. This book just goes to show what a great father he is in THUG. We see this young man turning into an adult not just in life, but due to the choices he makes. He must grow up fast and we really see the struggles he went through as a father needing to provide for his family, education, staying off the streets and getting out of the gang life. He stumbles, makes more mistakes on top of the ones already made, he experiences loss, and so many other emotions that further endure you to this character. I loved every minute spent reading this book.
The character development was pretty good throughout the story. Seeing what he had to go through to get to his present self. Learning how to be smarter about decisions and how to deal with grief.
Maverick Carter feels the weight of the world on his shoulders. With his father in prison, he has to help his mother financially while still attending high school. To do so, he’s secretly dealing drugs with some of his friends, and he’s a member of the King Lords gang, same as his father, for protection. But when Mav finds out he’s becoming a father too, everything changes. His son, Seven, alters his view on the world. He wants to stop dealing, to get a real job, maybe even leave the gang. And when a murder rocks his community, Maverick is forced to grow up quickly and figure out exactly what his future holds.
“When it comes to the streets, there’s rules. They ain’t written down, and you won’t find them in a book.”
CONCRETE ROSE takes place around seventeen years before Thomas’ hit THE HATE YOU GIVE, and it’s absolutely riveting. Talk about the book you didn’t know you needed, but once you read it, you’ll never forget it. Thomas perfectly captures teen Maverick’s voice and his early life, including all the pressures that come with being a young black man in his community.
Thomas deftly shows how institutionalized racism has affected Maverick’s entire world–his father in prison, the gang life that surrounds him, the standards and judgements forced upon him. Maverick wants to go straight, but the pressures he faces–having to support his family as a kid, other family members who want him in a gang–are nearly overwhelming.
This book touches on friendship, family, belonging, and so much more. It’s spellbinding and so well-done. The fact that it has ties to THUG is even better, giving insight into more of that world. Overall, it’s incredibly engrossing and insightful. Honestly, I was sad it didn’t cover more time up to THUG.
This is the back story of Maverick (Mav) Carter, the patriarch of the family in The Hate U Give. Mav is a drug dealer, and is starting his senior year of high school. He is dating Lisa, but when they broke up, he connected with another girl, and now finds he has a son.
Mav starts taking responsibility for his son, and does what he needs to do to clean up his life. Neighbors look out for him, and help him move forward.
I loved THUG, so I had high expectations for this book, but it just didn’t have the same appeal for me.
ONCRETE ROSE is unsurprisingly as beautiful and emotion-packed as all the Angie Thomas’ books that came before it. Maverick is one of my favorite YA parents of all time and now he’s one of my favorite YA characters–how cool is that? Angie Thomas dives deflty into heavy topics while still balancing it with a generous amount of levity–watching teenage Mav learn how to take care of his infant son Seven is sometimes tough, but it’s also often adorable and hilarious. One of my favorite things about THE HATE U GIVE and this book is how, between the tragedies and the heartbreaks, Angie shows us the stuff that makes life so precious.
I listened to The Hate You Give last year for a book club discussion and loved it, so when I heard about Concrete Rose there was no questioning whether or not I was going to read this book.
I decided to read rather than listen to the audio to see if it would hit the same way and it still packed the same punch.
Angie Thomas has a way with words that effortlessly allows readers of all types to connect with her characters and the environment in which they reside.
I am so glad that we get to learn the background of Maverick’s character and what shaped him to be the man, husband, and father he is in The Hate You Give.
“International phenomenon Angie Thomas revisits Garden Heights seventeen years before the events of The Hate U Give in this searing and poignant exploration of Black boyhood and manhood.
If there’s one thing seventeen-year-old Maverick Carter knows, it’s that a real man takes care of his family. As the son of a former gang legend, Mav does that the only way he knows how: dealing for the King Lords. With this money he can help his mom, who works two jobs while his dad’s in prison.
Life’s not perfect, but with a fly girlfriend and a cousin who always has his back, Mav’s got everything under control.
Until, that is, Maverick finds out he’s a father.
Suddenly he has a baby, Seven, who depends on him for everything. But it’s not so easy to sling dope, finish school, and raise a child. So when he’s offered the chance to go straight, he takes it. In a world where he’s expected to amount to nothing, maybe Mav can prove he’s different.
When King Lord blood runs through your veins, though, you can’t just walk away. Loyalty, revenge, and responsibility threaten to tear Mav apart, especially after the brutal murder of a loved one. He’ll have to figure out for himself what it really means to be a man.”
I want to start off by saying I really enjoyed this book. Now I will be honest I haven’t read The Hate U Give yet. Which I plan on reading as soon as I am done with this review. But I am glad that I didn’t yet. To read the backstory of Maverick. I enjoyed his character how he grew up or should say realized what was important to him. I almost felt like I was watching a movie or show not reading a book. Or thinking about when I was in school and the music playing. I will be definitely reading anything Angie Thomas comes out with. Her writing style is amazing. I highly recommend this book.
About Book
Young seventeen year old Maverick is trying to live up to his father name. Since his father in prison. Has Maverick founds out that he is a daddy to a son after doing a DNA test he must decide how to provide for his son and go to school and still have time to hang out with homies. He has to make a lot of changes. When death comes at him. Again I highly recommend this book.
trigger warning: gang violence, death, drug use, shootings, etc
In the prequel of The Hate U Give, we hear Mavericks story. Maverick is 17 years old and almost done with high school. He and his girl Lisa are planning on going to college after graduation. Mavericks family doesn’t have a whole lot. His mom works two jobs to take care of them, while his father, a King Lord legend, sits in prison. Maverick has his girl and his boys. He sells drugs on the side to earn money to help his mom out as well as to take care of himself. A King Lord himself, Maverick may not be living the high life, but he seems to be managing, until life throws him a curveball. He finds out he has a 3 month old son. How can he possibly manage to care for a baby, go to school, and work to try to help out with the bills and his son Sevens’ needs? Sevens’ mom suddenly goes MIA and Maverick is left trying to figure out how to make it all work. He can’t possibly be running around slinging drugs when he has a baby. It isn’t that easy to leave a gang though. His loyalty is to the Kings. With a new job, a baby that just won’t sleep, his grades slipping, and losing someone he really loves in the blink of an eye, will Maverick be able to overcome these challenges and be a good father to Seven?
This book was so good! Coming from Mavericks’ point of view, we see the struggles of a suddenly single teenage dad struggling in a tough neighborhood surrounded by drugs and gangs. Life can be tough, but Maverick shows us how he really becomes a man. I really recommend this book… well, any book by Angie Thomas. I rate this
Angie Thomas has done it again! She has written such a captivating story that makes you feel the gamut of emotions. I enjoyed this more in depth look at Maverick and his life. Once I started this book, I could not put it down!