A New York Times bestseller A William C. Morris Award Finalist “Should be required reading in every classroom.” –Nic Stone, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Dear Martin “A true love letter to Los Angeles.” –Brandy Colbert, award-winning author of Little & Lion “A brilliantly poetic take on one of the most defining moments in Black American history.” –Tiffany D. Jackson, author of … moments in Black American history.” –Tiffany D. Jackson, author of Grown and Monday’s Not Coming
Perfect for fans of The Hate U Give, this unforgettable coming-of-age debut novel explores issues of race, class, and violence through the eyes of a wealthy black teenager whose family gets caught in the vortex of the 1992 Rodney King Riots.
Los Angeles, 1992
Ashley Bennett and her friends are living the charmed life. It’s the end of senior year and they’re spending more time at the beach than in the classroom. They can already feel the sunny days and endless possibilities of summer.
Everything changes one afternoon in April, when four LAPD officers are acquitted after beating a black man named Rodney King half to death. Suddenly, Ashley’s not just one of the girls. She’s one of the black kids.
As violent protests engulf LA and the city burns, Ashley tries to continue on as if life were normal. Even as her self-destructive sister gets dangerously involved in the riots. Even as the model black family façade her wealthy and prominent parents have built starts to crumble. Even as her best friends help spread a rumor that could completely derail the future of her classmate and fellow black kid, LaShawn Johnson.
With her world splintering around her, Ashley, along with the rest of LA, is left to question who is the us? And who is the them?
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The Rodney King trial and riots that followed were very much a big event even in Missouri where I live. In fact, in Warrensburg, MO, where I was in college at the time, we had riots on the night before the last day of finals. I remember going to bed with my window open, being alone because my roommate had already finished her finals for the year and headed home. I remember it was louder than I would think, so closed the windows, and even then it was still kind of loud as I fell asleep. I assumed it was just people partying during finals week. I woke up the next morning to a phone call from my mom because it had been on the news about rioting in the downtown area of Warrensburg. I’d slept through it. But I saw the damage done when I drove through the downtown area on my way home after my last final that day.
So because of my own remembrance of this time, the fact I was only a sophomore that year, only a couple years older than the main character who is a senior in this book, I was really interested to read this when I heard its plotline. And honestly, for the most part, this book did not disappoint at all. This is a story that while it is historical fiction in truth, it has so many connections to the world around us today that it is the perfect time for it to be published.
What I liked was how the main character, Ashley, may have been in a middle class or maybe even upper class family, but her family had roots in Los Angeles. Her grandmother’s store that her uncle still ran was right in the middle of all the chaos. And while Ashley may have grown up with the white girls, the cheerleaders at her school, she’s always, or at least since she was little, known there were differences. She’s dealt with them using the n-word, even though it bothers her. She’s made fun or at least nicknamed the “black kids” that go to her school, most of them are scholarship kids, so she didn’t grow up with them, like her white girlfriends.
But even with her being in the middle of this, she has an older sister who has always been into the protests and wanting to do more. An older sister who dropped out of college and got married without telling their parents. One who is living down near most of the rioting, and is taking part as a member of a Communist group, and spray-painting messages. She has a nanny, but her nanny is from Guatemala and has her own past of horrible events in her country that she fled to get away from, to make enough money to pay for her own children to be safe and in good schools.
There was just so much in this book. We don’t just get the history of the time period the story takes place in, but we also get more history of Ashley’s own family, a connection to the Tulsa Race Massacre. Something I don’t remember learning about while I was in school, but have as an adult, now working in an inner city school, I have heard our history teachers teach about all of this. Massacres that we may only think occurred in other countries, like Guatemala, but actually still occurred in our own country.
I’ll conclude by saying that this was a really, really good book. However, there were times that I felt like maybe I was getting too much and I’d have preferred not so many different story-lines going on. So that is why I dropped to a 4.5. I wonder if a lot of teens would continue reading through some of it, as the beginning third or so I did have a little bit of a hard time and had to push through. But I will definitely be purchasing for my school library, probably e-book for now with our kids going virtual for the first nine weeks, but I’ll want a physical copy on our shelves too.
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: The Black Kids
: Christina Hammonds Reed
: 4/5
This book was such a great learning experience for me. Let me start out by saying, as a white girl, I can try and understand what POC are going through, but I know I will never really understand it because of my privilege. Just know that I stand with you. Therefore, it is really hard for me to write this review as well, because I am clearly not an expert on topics like these.. so please correct me if I am wrong, I am here to learn! The story itself is such an emotional one and was very eye opening to me. It deals with a lot of important topics and issues. There were moments where I was like NOOOO this cannot happen, normally, I could calm myself down by saying that it is just fiction. Unfortunately, there was no way to calm myself down, because a lot of what happens in the book has really happened or is still happening these days. Which is just heartbreaking. The writing is also very good and clear. Everything that is happening is clearly explained and I felt it wasn’t too complicated. I did feel that the pace was off at some points and the flashbacks were a bit confusing at times. I also wished that we had more time with characters like LaShawn and the main characters sister. I really loved them. I don’t want to say much more about the story, just that I think it is a must read! This book should be on school reading lists asap.
A lot of my reviews are also available with photo at my Bookstagram: @justmyfantasyworld
I am participating in an online winter reading challenge and Christina was one of the featured authors. Part of the challenge is to check out and read one of her books. I think this is her first book, actually, so in I went. There were a dozen or more descriptions and quotables, as I call them, that I sticky-noted for myself to review later and write down in my “Keepers” journal, so yes, I liked this book. It wasn’t even really about what I thought it might be about. It was, however, the most perfect read for me at this point in my life. I have been transcribing some interviews pertaining to the Rodney King trials, and also from a different client, some of the history and recent events of the fires. No kidding; perfect timing. I liked reading from the main character’s perspective and learning about who she was even while SHE was learning who she was. Here are some of my marked keepers:
…sometimes being different means hiding pieces of yourself away so other people’s mean can’t find them. (I know that one, and what a perfect way to describe it.)
But that’s kinda what happens to some girls between junior high and high school, when being pretty gets in the way of being a full person.
Sometimes I have so much to say that I can’t say anything at all.
Sometimes it’s nice just to be near another person, to feel their warmth and the blood coursing through their veins, and to feel the both of you alive.
Best friends are the people you laugh with as the world around you shakes. (Amen to that!)
Being an adult sometimes seems even lonelier than being a kid. (sad; true)
Childhood is its own language, of sorts.
There are more but I will conclude with this, especially during such a time as this in January 2021…because I so very much agree!
Even when bad things are happening, we have to keep on living.
The Black Kids
By Christina Hammonds Reed
This book really resonated with me, because just as Ashley, I too was a high schooler in the 90’s in Los Angeles that lived through the Rodney King riots. Just like Ashley, I was in an elite private high school in Los Angeles with a majority of my classmates wealthy kids, children of Hollywood elites. The Black Kids is a sotry set in 1992 entered around our main character, Ashley Bennett who lives a privileged life in a bubble in her mostly white Private high School. Little did she feel about her skin color until what happened to Rodney King which leads to a turning point in her life and her paying more attention to herself and her relation to the society she lives in.
I found the writing beautiful and a great coming-of-age story. This book’s themes really was heartbreaking and it is a wonderful story about identity, fighting for what we believe in, and racism – which after all this time still hasn’t changed all that much.
I hope you pick this up – this book is really a must read that will resonate with many.
I was in 7th grade in April 1992. I remember watching the news and seeing what was happening in LA. In this story, Ashley is a high school senior at a wealthy school with white rich friends. While the verdict on the LAPD officers and the resulting riots are an important part of Reed’s novel, the book really focuses on the theme of being a teenager and figuring out who you are and where you belong. As a 90s teen, I appreciated the pop culture references and I definitely had some laughs. But this book has really hit me and I’ve been thinking about it all week. I don’t know how many times I gasped at the words and remarks made to Ashley. I have a 7th grade daughter and it saddens me and angers me that 28 years later she is witnessing people still pleading and protesting for justice. We are seeing black men and women beaten, shot and killed as if our country has still not learned.
Toward the end of the book, Ashley’s mom says something to her that breaks my heart. “The world doesn’t let black children be children for very long.”
I highly recommend The Black Kids.
This was a great read. It was informative and reflective of a time that feels so much like what we’re facing so despite the narrative occurring in 1992, it is relevant to the present. Powerful.
Thank you Simon and Schuster for a complimentary copy. I voluntarily reviewed this book. All opinions expressed are my own.
The Black Kids
By: Christina Hammonds Reed
REVIEW
I am fortunate to review The Black Kids by Christina Hammonds Reed as part of the Simon and Schuster book tour. First, I must mention the striking dazzling cover art. What a wow factor! Now, as for the story, I was just a bit younger than our heroine, Ashley, in 1992. I do remember watching the L.A. riots on television and feeling terrified and confused over what caused this madness. I knew about what happened to Rodney King and the acquittal of four police officers, but knowing and understanding are very different things. This story is eye opening, shocking and informative to someone like me, a white woman. I cannot speak to Ashley’s emotional experiences, but I can imagine the events going on around her. Ashley is a privileged black high school senior without a care in the world, other than getting into college, that is. Because of her family’s wealth, Ashley attends a mostly white private school. Her friends are white, and occasional racial slurs and judgments are no big deal to them. Ashley brushes such things off because, what else can she do? Speak up for herself? Not likely. Essentially, Ashley has been sheltered. In 1992, the acquittal of four police officers accused of killing Rodney King was followed by riots in L.A. Now, as Ashley sees the world as it really is, she realizes that she doesn’t know who she is or where she belongs. She is suddenly one of The Black Kids, and this realization turns her grey world to black and white. Her friends, their jokes, small injustices previously ignored are not so innocuous anymore. Ashley is a color instead of a person. She began as a sort of silly teenager, but everything changes to a much more serious tone as the story progresses. Ashley sees the racism, classism and discrimination all around her. Once you witness something life changing such as this, you will never be the same person as before, and Ashley is in this place of knowing. Where does she belong? What is her heritage? There are many ways to classify this story in relation to current societal issues: timely, relevant, ironic, coincidental, universal, important, overarching, unchanging, mirroring, identical, and on and on. It is all of this and more. From 1992 to 2020, it doesn’t seem like society has learned much. Racism, discrimination, classism and elitism still exist just the same. I understand that a white woman and a black woman will not read The Black Kids in the same way. We have lived different lives. Each will have a different experience with the story and take from it different things. It is my sincere hope that people of all colors will read this book and take something positive from the pages-a bit of wisdom, history, whatever you want to call it-and apply it to real life. Progress, however small, is still progress. Read this book. You will not regret it.
4.5 stars
This is one of my most anticipated books of 2020 and thank you Netgalley for sending me an early copy. It did not disappoint at all. I loved every moment I’ve read.
This book takes place in the historical 1992 Rodney King Riots, which I am frustrated that I never knew about it, and I learned a lot while reading it. So not only is the book beautifully written with great characters, but also educational and VERY timely especially with the BLM movement going on (at least at the time I’m writing this review but I still am hopeful it will not stop until they get their rights and justice).
The book is divided into three parts: Before, During, and After. While that is great, I didn’t feel the shift of tone and atmosphere whenever I go into the next part. I felt that the story was just going and didn’t need this division.
We learn a lot about the riot from start to kinda finish but not really. It was brutal and violent and my heart ached when something happened which I won’t spoil it for y’all so I’m gonna stop right there. The discussion of race, class, and violence (both the riot and police brutality) was raw and heartbreaking but necessary to talk about.
The book is not plot focused though. It is a deep character driven story (and in a slower pace), which as a person who prefers plot more, I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed my time reading it. All characters are flawed and that is very important to me when I read a book (DO NOT GIVE ME A PERFECT MARY SUE) and The Black Kids delivered it splendidly.
This book is also in the point of view of a rich Black girl which I NEVER read about because there aren’t any (at least on my end) so it is a fresh new take on a perspective to read about especially since she struggles to fit in with both of her white and Black folks.
Our main character Ashely is both a likeable AND unlikable character and that is a first time for me reading a character like that and WHICH I ADORED. But my favorite has to be Jo (Ashley’s sister) because I connected to her the most.
Speaking of Jo, this book goes on the topic of mental illness in the Black community and we see that through Jo and how her and Ashley’s parents reacts to that. It was hard to read at times because of the pressure that Black people get to be strong, “good,” perfect, and not give them a moment to just take a freaking break.
The parents in The Black Kids are realistic in the sense that they want their children to have a better life but at the same time, being hard on them (or giving them tough love) because they don’t want their kids to get in trouble and put themselves in danger because the world is cruel when it comes to their community.
I also love the topic of the “them,” “us,” and “we” that was being discussed in the book. These terms that we use on everyday life holds a huge impact when it comes to communities in general and I really appreciate that it was written in page.
The pretending that everything is fine when it isn’t was a big part when it came to Ashley’s family life and it was at times hard to read because while I felt empathy towards them, I also wanted to scream that IT IS OKAY NOT TO FEEL OKAY!!!!!!
The concept of friendship was my second favorite part of the story. Old vs New friends. We see how Ashley tries to fit in with her white friends and the toll it takes on her and many people can relate to that (me included). It gives out the message that sometimes you just have to let go and meet new people and I love how it all played out in the end.
I love the TINY (and I mean VERY TINY) romance that was in the book. LaShawn is JUST EVERYTHING. He and Ashley are just so cute together. Ashely needs a person like him in her life just saying…..
There was only one plot device that I wished was explored more in regards to what happens to a certain character when I was nearing the end of the book and I really hope that the author does a spin-off book about said character. Maybe even in the point of view of both Ashley and said character and I can’t say more because of spoilers.
The ending was done perfectly with a dose of happy, bittersweet, and a hopeful message to the reader. I don’t think another ending would be as perfect as this one in The Black Kids.
Overall, I loved this book to pieces and highly HIGHLY recommend everyone to read it as soon as possible!!!!!