jen20
Written on Jun 29, 2021
Perfect for fans of The Hate U Give, this unforgettable coming-of-age debut novel is a unflinching exploration of race, class, and violence as well as the importance of being true to yourself.
Los Angeles, 1992
Ashley Bennett and her friends are living the charmed life. It's the end of high school 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.
But everything changes one afternoon in April, when four police 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 facade 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?
Praise for The Black Kids:
'Should be required reading in every classroom' - Nic Stone, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Dear Martin
'A prescient coming-of-age debut' - Elle.com
- ISBN10 1534462724
- ISBN13 9781534462724
- Publish Date 4 August 2020
- Publish Status Active
- Publisher Simon & Schuster
- Imprint Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 368
- Language English
Reviews
Angie
Written on Feb 14, 2021
Proceed With Caution:
The book contains several uses of the n-word, other racial slurs, police brutality, and racism.
The Basics:
Our narrator is seventeen-year-old Ashley, a black girl growing up in Los Angeles during the Rodney King riots.
My Thoughts:
I have mixed feelings about The Black Kids. On one hand, I think it's unique and important because I haven't seen any other YA book discuss this period in history before. It also tackles race and racism in a different way. However, I felt like the narrative was jumpy and had no direction. It didn't really "go there" for me because it was doing too many things at once.
The Black Kids starts off with Ashley hanging out with her closest friends, who are all white. We quickly see how she's one of them, but also kind of not. They make careless comments about her being Black, often in a joking matter, when in reality it's not really funny. Ashley doesn't say anything to avoid rocking the boat. But things quickly change as the whole country was following the trial of the police who beat Rodney King. Ashley and her friends see the riots first hand but they don't see the same thing.
Unfortunately, The Black Kids was all over the place. Ashley would be telling us about her friends and how she feels being the only Black girl in their group. Then she briefly mentions the trial and the riots. Then she's talking about the star pupil, LaShawn. Then suddenly she's hanging out with some girl named Lana, whom she's never hung out with before. Then it's the family's vacuum repair business, and oh by the way I slept with my BFF's boyfriend the other day, but back to the vacuums. Then flashbacks of her friendships, and oh yeah, riots are happening during Prom. Now back to LaShawn and Lana (who were both far more interesting than Ashley and her crew). There's several more things happening within there, but I'm sure you get my point.
I wanted to love The Black Kids, and I think I would have if Ashley had been a more engaged narrator or if it had followed a different character. I just didn't see where Ashley's story was going. It didn't really go anywhere for me honestly. It started with her and her friends in the pool and ended with her and her friends on the beach.