Synopsis:

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 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?

I’ve been wanting to read Christina Hammonds Reed’s The Black Kids since it came under my radar. So when I won an advanced reader’s copy through a fellow bloggers giveaway, it quickly moved to the top of my to-be-read list. I flew through this impressive YA debut.

“I’m beginning to think that’s kind of what being an adult is—learning that sometimes people are a little bit wrong, but not for the reasons that you think they are, and also a little bit right, and you try to take the good with the bad. Right now, we’re young and still figuring out how to be good.”

Christina Hammonds Reed, The Black Kids

Set in the 1990s, I was quickly immersed in nostalgia for my own teenage years. The music, the clothes, the friendships.

But while this book does bring up all those warm memories, it’s about much more important things, as well. Set during the 1992 Los Angeles riots, it’s a story about Ashley, a wealthier black girl attending a mostly white school, and how her life changes when LAPD officers are acquitted for the beating of Rodney King.

Reed has created a wonderfully flawed and diverse cast that leaps off the page. I especially loved Ashley’s “nanny” Lucia. I would have loved a whole book with her vivid story. And while there are many characters and many stories, it tied in beautifully to Ashley’s story. In fact, one of my favorite things about the book was all the history that was woven throughout, inspired by the characters.