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A review by sarahscupofcoffee
The Black Kids by Christina Hammonds Reed
5.0
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In The Black Kids by Christina Hammonds Reed, we head to the heat of Los Angeles in the 90’s, when the Rodney King riots set the street ablaze.
Releases August 4, 2020 by Simon Schuster Books for Young Readers
I’d like to thank NetGalley, Simon Schuster Books for Young Readers, and Christina Hammonds Reed for the eARC and the opportunity to read The Black Kids before release date! Here is my honest review.
Bite-Sized Summary
The Black Kids is set in Los Angeles 1992. We follow Ashley, a senior in high school being deeply affected by the Rodney King trial. Ashley was raised on the rich side of LA; she lives in a fancy house, goes to a fancy school, has fancy friends, and lives a fancy life. When the four cops who beat Rodney King half to death were acquitted, she stopped being a fancy rich kid and turned into one of the Black kids. Ashley’s sister, Jo, is drawn into the riots and finds herself participating in them, risking everything to take a stand for what she believes in. The Black Kids is a story of becoming comfortable in your own skin, while shedding light on what it means to be Black in America.
Going In Expectations
I wasn’t sure what to expect going into The Black Kids, which is exactly why I picked it up. I requested it because I wanted a better understanding of what the Rodney King riots were like and to gain a better understanding of our current climate. As a white reviewer and reader, I find it important to uplift Black voices and authors–to shout what they have to say to the rafters. The Black Kids didn’t disappoint and this is me shouting.
Raves & Critiques
I absolutely loved The Black Kids. Chrsitina Hammonds Reed’s voice belongs with Angie Thomas’s and Justin A. Reynolds’s. She poses a huge point: we haven’t come very far since 1992. The themes presented in this book are universal and extremely relevant, despite it being set 28 years ago. That’s sickening. The themes discussed include police brutality, white privilege, and what it means to be Black in America on the daily.
The range of topics that Christina discusses within these pages are intense: it goes from police brutality to how difficult it is to find a hair salon that can do “Black hair.” As a white individual, I had no idea what the daily life of a Black individual entails. And I still don’t. I won’t ever because I live in white skin. I make it a point to read books like these and to continue furthering my education on cultural differences because it’s important to acknowledge that not everyone lives like you. Has privileges like you.
Yes, the themes were incredibly written and well sung, but let’s talk about the writing and plot. Literary stuff.
The writing is amazing and descriptive without being over the top. The Black Kids is written in an effortless style, which makes it easy to read, despite its intense disposition. The characters are incredibly well written and relatable. My favorite character is Lashawn because of his authenticity. You see all sides of his personality, even though he’s not the point-of-view character. All of the characters were well developed, but I loved Lashawn the most.
The pacing was the only thing I had trouble with, even though it was well done. The book is set up into a Before and After format, which I loved (one of my first notes while reading was how pretty the illustrations were for those pages). However, at the end of the book, there was another Before and After, which kind of confused me since we were in the After section already.
Reason for Rating ~ Should You Read It?
Overall, I loved this book. Easily five stars and I think everyone should read it. If you liked The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, you’ll love The Black Kids, too. Despite its heavy content, this is definitely a summer read. There’s lots of beach-going and palm trees (albeit, they’re on fire). Lots of summery goodness among the heavy themes.
In The Black Kids by Christina Hammonds Reed, we head to the heat of Los Angeles in the 90’s, when the Rodney King riots set the street ablaze.
Releases August 4, 2020 by Simon Schuster Books for Young Readers
I’d like to thank NetGalley, Simon Schuster Books for Young Readers, and Christina Hammonds Reed for the eARC and the opportunity to read The Black Kids before release date! Here is my honest review.
Bite-Sized Summary
The Black Kids is set in Los Angeles 1992. We follow Ashley, a senior in high school being deeply affected by the Rodney King trial. Ashley was raised on the rich side of LA; she lives in a fancy house, goes to a fancy school, has fancy friends, and lives a fancy life. When the four cops who beat Rodney King half to death were acquitted, she stopped being a fancy rich kid and turned into one of the Black kids. Ashley’s sister, Jo, is drawn into the riots and finds herself participating in them, risking everything to take a stand for what she believes in. The Black Kids is a story of becoming comfortable in your own skin, while shedding light on what it means to be Black in America.
Going In Expectations
I wasn’t sure what to expect going into The Black Kids, which is exactly why I picked it up. I requested it because I wanted a better understanding of what the Rodney King riots were like and to gain a better understanding of our current climate. As a white reviewer and reader, I find it important to uplift Black voices and authors–to shout what they have to say to the rafters. The Black Kids didn’t disappoint and this is me shouting.
Raves & Critiques
I absolutely loved The Black Kids. Chrsitina Hammonds Reed’s voice belongs with Angie Thomas’s and Justin A. Reynolds’s. She poses a huge point: we haven’t come very far since 1992. The themes presented in this book are universal and extremely relevant, despite it being set 28 years ago. That’s sickening. The themes discussed include police brutality, white privilege, and what it means to be Black in America on the daily.
The range of topics that Christina discusses within these pages are intense: it goes from police brutality to how difficult it is to find a hair salon that can do “Black hair.” As a white individual, I had no idea what the daily life of a Black individual entails. And I still don’t. I won’t ever because I live in white skin. I make it a point to read books like these and to continue furthering my education on cultural differences because it’s important to acknowledge that not everyone lives like you. Has privileges like you.
Yes, the themes were incredibly written and well sung, but let’s talk about the writing and plot. Literary stuff.
The writing is amazing and descriptive without being over the top. The Black Kids is written in an effortless style, which makes it easy to read, despite its intense disposition. The characters are incredibly well written and relatable. My favorite character is Lashawn because of his authenticity. You see all sides of his personality, even though he’s not the point-of-view character. All of the characters were well developed, but I loved Lashawn the most.
The pacing was the only thing I had trouble with, even though it was well done. The book is set up into a Before and After format, which I loved (one of my first notes while reading was how pretty the illustrations were for those pages). However, at the end of the book, there was another Before and After, which kind of confused me since we were in the After section already.
Reason for Rating ~ Should You Read It?
Overall, I loved this book. Easily five stars and I think everyone should read it. If you liked The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, you’ll love The Black Kids, too. Despite its heavy content, this is definitely a summer read. There’s lots of beach-going and palm trees (albeit, they’re on fire). Lots of summery goodness among the heavy themes.