Anger is a Gift is a deeply moving, important book.

This book did not pull any punches when it came to showing police violence, and I think that this is its greatest strength

I I love the amount of diversity. I love Moss’s huge group of friends and I love that they celebrate each other.

I still enjoyed this book, although it was deeply unsettling and uncomfortable to read. This is not a safe book, but it is an important book.

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an advanced reader's copy.

I was really excited for this book because of all of the hype, but it was just a bit too long for me. The font being super small didn't help, either.

Moss had witnessed his unarmed father's fatal death at the hands of the police. He is still dealing with tragedy in the form of anxiety and night terrors, but his friends and mother help him through panic attacks. He is not a big fan of protesting as it was not fruitful for his family and only seems to make his anxiety worse. Moss also struggles with his self confidence and body image as a large, gay, African American. His dating life has been nonexistent-until he meets Javier, an undocumented immigrant from a different school, and begins to fall in love.

Oshiro addresses many issues in his debut novel: racism, police brutality, civil rights, and gentrification to name a few and covers each of these topics well. As Moss begins his junior year at West Oakland High, a school whose student population is predominately made up of African Americans and Latinos, there are very limited resources for students. Students have to use books that are in irreparable conditions or even worse photocopied pages of textbooks for their classes. Due to low test scores on standardized tests (a battle that is unfortunately very common across the U.S.), there are limited grants. Now the school is adding metal detectors and random locker searches. Both new policies cause immediate issues for innocent students.

Moss's group of friends is affected and they begin organizing. Tragedy strikes during a planned school walk out. Moss's inner demons are awakened and now he must stand up and fight for what is right. I really appreciated this book's honesty and realism in a unresolved, everything tied up in a bow happy ending. The heartbreaking last lines are a call to action. Notably, there are no good models of white ally-ship, putting a sharp eye on white privileged and the title is stronger for this fact. While the book does drag in bits and could have used some editing to tighten some passages, the diversity of this title is its biggest strength: sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, race, disability, and ethnicity are all portrayed in Oshiro's inner-city Oakland setting. This timely title will provoke much-needed discussion and would make an excellent book discussion.

My review for "Anger is a Gift" by Mark Oshiro was originally published at BookBrowse: https://www.bookbrowse.com/mag/reviews/index.cfm/ref/pr241664

I liked the way Oshiro addressed Moss' emotional journey and the way he was affected by the different losses in his life.

My first reaction to this book was that it was unrealistic. The range of events, and especially the quick escalation, didn't ring true to me. When reading this book it's really important to set aside your own experience, your privilege, and acknowledge that you can't really know another person's reality. This narrative shines a light on what life is like for teens of color, harassed by police and attending vastly underfunded schools. We see the growing realization that neighborhood affects your experience, that until you've lived a person's reality you can't speak to their protest. While the narrative is not without problems, not without that pervasive sense of unreality, the issues it raises make it worth reading and discussing.

As a person of color, I’m well aware of police brutality and the injustice that occurs to people who look like me. That being said, I grew up in a predominantly white neighborhood. When I went to school the only thing we had to go through was the doors. We had one security guard, who was a POC and was quite chill but besides that, you just showed your school ID and you went inside. That was it.

My point in saying this is I did not grow up in an environment like the one Moss and his friends go through. If anything, I’d say I’m more like his best friend, Esperanza, who goes to a different high school, and doesn’t truly understand all that Moss and his friends have to go through on a daily basis, both at school and with the police in general. And recognizing that privilege in myself was definitely uncomfortable, but that’s the whole point of the book.

Moss is a young black man who’s father was killed by the police six years ago. Since then, Moss has suffered from anxiety and after seeing all the protests that were done for his father and how that didn’t really lead to change, Moss tries to stay away from protests and anywhere else where there will be a heavy police presence. That is until metal detectors are brought into his school. When one of the detectors ends up harming one of his good friends, Moss is rightfully angry and he decides to take action. Together with the help of his mother, Wanda, his friends, and his community, they stage a walkout at school. Unfortunately, it doesn’t end well.

Over the course of the novel, Moss struggles with wanting to do something about all the injustice he’s seen, but also feeling defeated, wondering if there really will ever be change. I think this is something that many POCs experience. I know I have myself. But what Mark Oshiro does so well with this story is he keeps it real about how bad it really is for POCS, particularly in areas like West Oakland where Moss is from, but Oshiro also shows the hope and joy in these communities as well.

While this book made sad, angry, upset, and uncomfortable, it also made me laugh and smile. Moss’ relationship with his mother was heartfelt and something I could definitely relate too, being close to my mom. Similarly, Moss’ meet cute with a boy named Javier and the romance that ensued, also made me feel warm and fuzzy on the inside.

And in between all of that, this book showed be a different experience that made me question my own worldview. Even having what I felt was a good understanding of police brutality, reading this book at times I found myself asking, “Is this legit? Do these things really happen?” When really I should be asking why does this happen and why isn’t anyone doing anything about it? The fact that this book raises those questions and will hopefully spark those conversations, is reason enough for me to say you have to read this book.

I will probably not be able to put words into any kind of order that does the emotional aspect of this book justice. But I'm going to try. Just know that whatever I say pales in comparison to the masterful story that Mark Oshiro has given us with his debut novel.

<i>Anger is a Gift</i> is an incredibly difficult book to get through for numerous reasons. Please be aware going in that it features intense and frequent scenes of police brutality, detailed descriptions of anxiety, depression, and panic attacks, and overall that it is not a book meant to comfort the reader. And it shouldn't have to be. What Mark Oshiro has given us is a brutal look at police brutality and systematic racism in the world we live in, and that's not an easy story to read. It feels real because it is real.

Moss, the main character, is a black, gay teenage boy whose father was killed by the police. We spend the entire novel inside his head, and that means reading descriptions as he is faced with PTSD, and as he has multiple severe panic attacks. He is full of anger that he isn't sure what to do with, and grief he can't let go of. But beyond his trauma, Moss is also such a deeply loving character. He adores his mother and his friends. He is also searching for connection, and for a way to explain his experiences to the people around him.

Speaking of the people around him, I'm sure one of the things you have heard in the praise surrounding the book is how diverse it is, and I am just here to back that up. There are almost no white, allocishet characters present at any given time. Besides a black, gay main character, there are also side characters who are lesbian, bisexual, trans, nonbinary, and asexual. There are a variety of black and latinx side characters, as well as a disabled side, a hijabi side, an adopted side, an immigrant side.... you see what I mean? The world created in this book is incredible, and it is mostly due to the incredible cast of characters.

Within this group of incredible people, I think there is a real willingness to hear one another out and to understand different experiences. There are certain characters that have particular privileges others don't, and they are almost all willing to discuss, to address those privileges and how their lives are different. And I think that support along with an openness to gently calling one another out is a remarkable strength to the relationships in the novel.

I will say that my only negative with this book boils down to one thing. I think Mark Oshiro excels at writing action and the emotion surrounding that action, but the writing is weaker in the moments between these scenes. There is a forced aspect to some of the dialogue for the first half of the book, especially during a few of the scenes between Moss and his mother. However, once the second half hit, I could not put this down. I read it in a single sitting and sobbed for over an hour. That weakness really vanishes as Moss becomes angrier and as he uses the people around him to help direct his anger.

Now, just in case you didn't gather this from the title, one of the central themes of this novel is anger. How we consider anger a negative emotion, especially when it comes to the anger of people of color. While the stereotype of the angry black man attempts to delegitimatize rage, <i>Anger is a Gift</i> gives the power of anger back to the people who are rightfully furious. It validates rage and opposition and organized resistance. And that is a deeply powerful message.

This book is incredibly difficult, but it is necessary. It addresses the nature of systematic oppression in way that feels fucking impossible to overcome, because it is the truth of the world we live in.

Moss is a powerful narrative voice. Mark Oshiro's ability to bring him to life is absolutely remarkable, as is the unflinching way he looks at violence and oppression. I want to recommend this book because of how necessary it is, but I also think a couple of notes are needed. White readers need to go in ready to address privileges and preconceptions that we have. Queer people and people of color need to be prepared for the emotional toll of this novel, because it is difficult. But if you can handle it, I think this is one of the most important YA novels we have. And it deserves to be read and shared as widely as possible.

“Anger is a gift. Remember that.” She stood. “You gotta grasp on to it, hold it tight and use it as ammunition. You use that anger to get things done instead of just stewing in it.”
---
This one is going to stay with me for a while. In a good, but disquieting way.

It's a difficult story to read because it's full of a lot of sadness and violence. But the reader also experiences the way that friends, family, and love can shine beyond that sadness. As hard as it is to read, this is the reality of so many who live it. And I'm not even remotely qualified to speak to that experience.

So I just that no matter who the reader is, that they take the message behind this book to heart as we all try to make our society better place for everyone.

Anger Is a Gift is a very intense, very emotional and very important YA contemporary novel. The story follows Moss, a teenage gay black boy who is struggling with his grief over his father's murder by the Oakland police, as well as his PTSD from that same day. Moss is doing his best to move forward, but both his anxiety and certain events at his school, make this very difficult.

This book is political. It deals with police brutality, white privilege, racism and many more issues. And it deals with them all in a way that takes your breath away. I've said it once and I'll say it again: this book is intense. I had to stop every other chapter because I felt like I couldn't breathe by the unjust treatment Moss and his friends -the whole black community really- got. I just got so ANGRY I felt like I would collapse from the frustration. I can say with certainty that the title is on point.

I liked  how the story is taking place somewhere considered liberal: San Fransisco. As Moss says somewhere in the book, there is the belief that in places like that there isn't racism or homophobia, but it is a false conviction; of course there is, and I'm glad Oshiro tackled this delusion.

Anger Is a Gift is a raw portrayal of America's institutionalised racism and police brutality. And what makes the most impact is that everything that Moss goes through, everything this community goes through is not fiction; for every incident Oshiro described I could remember hundreds of examples I've read on the news concerning the topic. I also appreciated how nothing is sugar coated for the white audience; all the flaws and all the wrongs were laid out bare, and all the blame was obvious. There was no reading between the lines, or easing the conscience; the events were narrated as they were, no excuses. 

Another aspect worth mentioning is the diversity. All characters were diverse in one way or another; there were non binary characters, black characters, Muslim characters, Latinx characters, gays and lesbians and an asexual character in a happy healthy relationship (!). Also anxiety and PTSD were thoroughly discussed in the novel; positive mental illness representation is always a plus.

Lastly, the parent-children relationships were of the most realistic ones I've read. Moss and his friends actually communicated with their parents; with that I don't specifically mean that they always had the best relationship, but at least they asked for permission and informed their parents for simple things, that are nevertheless essential like going out of the house, or being late to come home etc. I've always struggled with that part of YA contemporaries.

Anger Is a Gift is a must read for everyone concerned the least bit with current social and political issues of this world. Definitely recommend.

Trigger Warnings: police brutality, racism, graphic violence, transphobia, misgendering, homophobia.

*I received this e-ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Love. Love. Love. The writing, the story. Everything. I am looking forward for more from this author.

I've heard so may great things about Anger is a Gift and as it is Tor Teen's first contemporary release, I knew I had to read it. I'm so glad I did because this debut novel is devastating but definitely worth a read.

Moss Jeffries' father was murdered by an Oakland police officer six years ago. Since then, Moss has dealt with panic attacks as the media vilifies his father and the police have yet to be held accountable. When Moss and his classmates' latest year at school comes with a police presence and intimidation, the students decide to push back. When tensions rise, Moss has to accept that his anger could be a gift.

Moss was such a real character. His voice in Anger is a Gift was just authentic and Oshiro's writing was phenomenal. I'm sure that my summary above does not do the book justice. It's not as plot-focused as it may seem. The novel is really about Moss trying to figure out who he is, and I loved it. 

While Anger is a Gift was a heart-breaking novel, it is so well written and so character-driven that it is worth a read. If you read one book this year, I hope you make it this one.

A wonderful psychological text that would be useful to anyone attempting to teach the topic of behavioral management.

I have no words for how amazing this book was. Anger Is a Gift by Mark Oshiro has to be one of the most powerful books of the year. It depicts a very harsh and depressing reality: police brutality. From the first pages to the last, this book had me captivated. I was crying or about to cry for most of the book. I, myself, have never experienced such things as the characters in this book. But now, I can really see them and their struggles. It was extremely eye opening. I have always known that the police are unfair and brutal, but never that it was so bad as was depicted in this book. This book sends a powerful message, and I think that it is a necessary read.

If we want to talk about the actual mechanics of the book itself, it was pretty good. The cast of characters was amazingly diverse. It proved that such awful events affect entire communities full of people from all walks of life. I loved the interactions and relationships between characters. Friendships grow and fall apart. Relationships start and end. It was all very beautiful and masterfully written in a way that the younger generation can fully understand.

Well done, Mark Oshiro. Well done.

Honestly I don't even know where to start I'm so blown away by this book. I'm honestly kind of disappointment at the lack of hype surrounding this one? I've barely seen it around and hadn't even heard of it when I stumbled across it on Netgalley. Let me tell you: Anger is a Gift deserves all the hype and more. It's incredible, intense, heartbreaking, yet also shows family, friends and an entire community having each other's back, fighting for each other and always, always being there for one another.

Anger is a Gift is very graphic, and just gets more and more graphic as the book continues. The police brutality described just gets worse and worse, and gets described in some detail, which is something you should know going in if this triggers you. That said, it's an incredibly important read and Oshiro has clearly done so so much research, making this incredibly realistic and brutal.

Moss watched his father get shot right in front of him by a police officer, leaving him with severe PTSD (it's never stated that Moss has PTSD, I read it this way myself) and panic attacks, which is described really, really well. He's also left with a lot of anger, naturally, which only increases in the book, but as the title of the book states 'anger is a gift', and Moss learns that his anger is not a bad thing, and that he could use it to try and change things. Moss' character development is incredible: he went from not wanting to be anywhere near a protest because of his panic attacks to pretty much leading a movement.

While the entire book is very intense, it's not all heavy stuff, especially when it comes to Moss' family and friends. His relationship with his mother is so heartwarming to read: they share everything and are very open; something that all characters were with each other. They all just discussed everything, had no secrets for each other... It was so refreshing to see. Plus all the parents actually being involved!

''You realize how lucky I am that my son is one of my best friends?''

And then there's his friends, who are absolutely amazing. These kids would do anything for each other - which they did. They always had each other's back, no matter what. They went through hell for each other, and they'd do it over and over again. Also I loved how diverse (none of them are white) and queer they're group was, without anyone seeming like the token anything. Moss himself is gay, Esparanza is a lesbian, Reg is disabled, Kaisha is ace, Njemile is trans (and has two moms!), Bits is nonbinary and Rawiya is a Muslim. They're so unapologetically queer and Oshiro has gotten the queer friends group thing so right - the way they talked about their sexualities and gender identities, joked around etc. all felt very realistic and similar to me and my friends. While of course they face discrimination, the people that matter never give them a hard time and are very accepting and supportive, which was great to see.

And oh, oh my god the romance. The romance is just so good I'm still broken over it. It starts out very awkward yet also very cute, and just very realistic? The entire romance was - neither of them had been in a relationship before, neither knew what to do.

Another burst of nervous energy flushed through Moss' body. ''Yes,'' he said. ''I mean, no!'' He blurted it out, then shook his head. ''Please sit down,'' he finally said, certain he had embarrassed himself beyond repair.

As I said, all characters were very open with each other, and Moss and Javier were no exception. They shared their doubts with each other: doubts about themselves, but also doubts about the relationship because they were both clueless cinnamon roles. Moss felt so safe with him, sharing his insecurities and Javier making sure that he never felt that way. They were absolutely lovely. While they were never really friends before the romance developed, it still felt very much like the relationship was built on friendship. Also everytime Javier kissed Moss on the cheek I died.

Anger is a Gift is a powerful, incredible, critical look on how rooted racism is in America and the corruption of the police. The ending is so powerful and heartbreaking, because it's very realistic. I highly encourage you to read Oshiro's author's note, as it made the book even better (if that's even possible).

I could never do this book justice. There are no words to do so, but I hope you're going to pick this up, because Anger is a Gift is really important, touches on so many important issues that I can't even begin to list because then we'll be here for a while, and is just a must-read for everyone.

❝ Anger. It was that same unwanted tourist most days, not because Moss saw no need for it, but because he was tired of it consuming him so often. ❞

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book! All opinions are my own!

This book was powerful and had so many great aspects to it that I was just blown away. It was diverse in its characters' racial/ethnic, sexual orientation, and SES (Socio-Economic Status) representation. Plus, it dealt with social injustice and mental health. This book really took on a lot and I felt like it balanced it all so perfectly. I was impressed with this debut YA.

The story basically follows Moss, his friends, and family as they struggle to deal with the new policies at their school. With each new rule, the tension between the Oakland Police Department and the students gets higher and higher. Incident after incident adds up until the students decide they've had enough and start to protest.

Moss was an interesting character to me right off the bat because of his mental health issues. He struggled with anxiety and panic attacks left over after his father was shot and killed by the Oakland police. Later on, he reveals how he has body image issues. He was funny and kind, likable. I liked the way he kept his father's memory alive by keeping a "Rolodex" in his mind of various memories. He wasn't perfect, but he always tried to fight back against the negativity in his mind and I loved him for it.

I could also appreciate that despite being LGBTQ, the book did not necessarily focus on the fact that many of the characters were gay, bi, or lesbian. It mentioned it and we followed some romances closer than others, but it wasn't given extra attention. It was kind of just worked in and taken as normal without going through the drama of coming out or struggling to accept oneself. Not to say that those things are bad in a book, but I'm glad that this one just lets you enjoy the characters for who they were and focused on the social injustice instead.

Another great aspect of the book was the community and family support shown throughout. I liked that all of the mothers in the book came together and supported one another. They were always coming over to help one another make dinner, to take care of the children, to share updates with one another, and just to show a united front. Most of the parents were very open with their children. There was trust among the family, love, acceptance. Plus, later on we get to see the community coming together as well to support Moss and the other students in their fight against injustice.

❝ " [...] And that's the problem you can't see. To you, it's an answer, but to us, it's a question that never existed in the first place." ❞

Although there are many characters to focus on I think the most important relationship in the story was between Moss and Esperanza. They were best friends and so they shared pretty much everything, but you could tell that her upbringing did put some distance between them because Esperanza couldn't really understand what Moss and his family/community experienced. She could hear about it from him, but she had an outsider's point of view and so it didn't feel like she really understood him. It was easy for her to say that they should stand up for themselves or protest because she didn't seem to understand the constant state of fear and injustice that the rest of them experienced. This was something that frustrated Moss. And when she eventually understands, it's kind of this... heartbreaking moment because yes, she gets it, but it's a hard lesson to learn and one you kind of wish she never had to go through.

Esperanza isn't the only one who goes through some growth in this book. We see Moss go from someone who's a little insecure and kind of plays it safe to someone who is more confident, passionate, and willing to fight injustice. Although... this change is kind of like climbing a hill in a way. He starts at the bottom, reaches a high point... and then the ending happens.

The ending was just so... bittersweet. All of the tragedy and suffering comes together to a single powerful moment where Moss realizes just how much of an influence a single person standing up against the Oakland PD can have, but the book takes a turn and then... well, things happen. The ending seems like a win, but it's such a small one when you think of everything that's happened--and Moss realizes it too. It had a tired kind of feeling to it and it just... wow. I just had to finish the last page and sit there to kind of process all of it.

This is definitely one of those books that will light a fire in you and make you want to fight back, but it also has that last punch that takes your breath away.

Anger is a Gift was just released May 22nd so go pick up a copy, I highly recommend it!

content warnings: queer death, violence against qpoc, police violence, panic attacks, body image issues, abelism, etc. Spoilers ahead in regards the treatment of Javier

I have complicated feelings about this book and its mostly around the treatment of Javier as a character and how the blogs presented this part of the book as a love story. To untrained teenagers who havent had their hearts broken ovee tragic queer stories to present this book repeatedly as a love story is quite damaging. I know better a a romance genre reader that a love story means a tragic ending that someone will die. That there is no happy ending for our lovers. Thats what this book does there is no happy for now or happy anything for Javier and Moss. And for me that among all the other elements in this book from how truly awful the police are to every single bad thing that happens what happens to Javier literally punched me in the gut. And its supposed to that is the purpose it serves. His death is supposed to be senseless and pointless and at the same time I truly wish that the romance had survived. There arent enough queer poc mm stories in ya with romantic elements.

I literally had to walk away from this book because I was so upset. I am not saying he is wrong for choosing to use that plotline. Oh how I wish Moss and Javier could have been activist boyfriends who kicked ass. How I wish for things that wont be. I was excited for this book and I was left deeply heartbroken by how the romance and Javier as a character is treated.

3.5

Anger is a Gift is a deeply moving, important book. It shows police brutality and the violence that certain communities face in an unapologetic manner. This book follows students at West Oakland High School facing a stronger police presence in their school, and when they try to stage a walkout, there are horrific consequences.

This book did not pull any punches when it came to showing police violence, and I think that is its greatest strength. It tells us the truth. It shows the trauma that certain communities, usually mostly minorities, suffer at the hands of those that are supposed to protect and serve. It shows the frustration of the children who live in those communities. Several of the teen characters in this book had dialogue that boiled down to, "We just want to go to school!" It was extremely powerful to read.

I do feel that the writing was lacking in some parts. Some of the dialogue felt stilted, and while some of the prose was beautiful, other parts suffered from that same stilted writing. There are some spoilers for the rest of this paragraph, though I will try to stay as vague as possible, but read cautiously. The walkout at the school was responded to by police in riot gear. This is SUPER ILLEGAL. Walkouts are considered peaceful protest and schools cannot punish students for participating in them. I think it is completely plausible that the school in this book would do it anyway, but no one even mentioned that this specific thing the school and police did was illegal. I think that would have been a great thing to sprinkle in so that teen readers would be aware of their legal rights. It was hard for me to suspend my disbelief that NO ONE, not even adults that are supposedly hardcore activists, brought this up.

I also feel that this book has too many side characters with not enough to do. I love the amount of diversity, but I do feel like there were some characters that were basically presented as X sexuality or having Y racial background (or a combination of sexual identity minority and racial minority, which was awesome to show because some folks think that a fat gay black dude with anxiety and panic attacks is too "special snowflake" ugh) but then didn't have an active role in the story. I love Moss's huge group of friends and I love that they celebrate each other, but I, as the reader, did not have the opportunity to celebrate them because I didn't get to know them.

I still enjoyed this book, although it was deeply unsettling and uncomfortable to read. This is not a safe book, but it is an important book. The issues with writing and characterization are disappointing, but with more practice, Mark Oshiro can smooth those over in his future books, which I am definitely looking forward to reading.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for granting me a copy in exchange for an honest review!

This book is SO IMPORTANT. The reason that my rating is so "low" is because I didn't connect to the characters as much as I did reading The Hate U Give. I think that this book was pretty well done, it was just a personal preference as to why my rating is low. I think you should definitely still check it out!

Librarian: Yes, I will be recommending this book for purchase. Yes, I will be recommending it to readers and teachers, and probably nominating it as a top book of the year in the awards given by various international schools. As a librarian I completely get the hype surrounding this book. People should read it. It is important.

Reader: I did not enjoy this book. I know that that's kind of the point, and that I'm probably going to be called all sorts of bad names on the internet for admitting it, but that doesn't make it any less true.
I had an extreme amount of difficulty finishing the book and I had to put it down several times. Part of that is, as mentioned by other reviewers, several plot twists, that came perilously close to bury your gays. Part of that is the way that it's written (I had a hard time staying interested. Part of it was the fact that this subject is to real, and to close to home. And part of it is, despite what others have said, there is no catharsis, only anger. And that's the problem. This book invites you to get angry, it practically dares you to. But it doesn't give you anywhere to point that anger. Except maybe at police officers. And that's correct. But also not. Because no matter what this book claims anger does nothing except breed more anger. We get (justifiably) angry at police officers for unnecessary acts of cruelty. And so we lash out. But all that does is reinforce the views of police officers that say that those who lash out are violent. And that in turn leads to more violence. Anger solves nothing. It just creates an unending circle of pain. There has to be a better way. This book doesn't show it. It just shows how more violence gets created.