Hello everyone! We are so excited for our stop on The Black Kids blog tour through Simon and Schuster publishing.
About the Book
The Black Kids by Christina Hammonds ReedPublished by Simon Schuster Books for Young Readers on August 4, 2020
Pages: 368
Goodreads
“Infused with honesty, heart, and humor, The Black Kids is a true love letter to Los Angeles, highlighting the beauty and flaws of the city, and the people who call it home.” —Brandy Colbert, award-winning author of Little & Lion
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?
About the Author
Christina Hammonds Reed holds an MFA from the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts. A native of the Los Angeles area, her work has previously appeared in the Santa Monica Review and One Teen Story. The Black Kids is her first novel.
Our Thoughts
For fans of books like The Hate U Give, this new titles is as much about police brutality and racism in the same vein of books like Riot Baby by Tochi Onyebuchi.
While The Hate U Give is a contemporary story, The Black Kids is set in the early 1990s and explore the aftermath of LA after the police who beat Rodney King within an inch of his life were acquired of their crimes.
Our main character is Ashley, who hails from a wealthy black family that has worked hard to create a better life for her and her destructive older sisters who becomes embroiled in the race riots that sweep the city after the verdict.
The Black Kids paints a complicated portrait of identity and class. Many authors are hails Reed’s book as essentially anti-racist reading and I would agree. There is still so much work to be done and novels like this remind me of that.
Overall, I gave this one 4/5 stars and would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a heavy, ownvoices novel that examine who we are and the role we all play in society and the world
What About You?
Have you read The Black Kids? What did you think of it? Let us know in the comments!
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