The Black Kids by Christina Hammonds Reed is a Young Adult novel based in 1992 in Los Angeles when the Rodney King riots happened. The main character, Ashley Bennet, from a wealthy family is one of the few black kids in her senior high school year, whose parents provided her with everything and shielded her from a life of knowing what it means to be black in America.

Ashley was not aware of what most black kids in the USA were going through until the riots happened, when she realizes the racism based on skin colour even amongst her lifelong white friends. Ashley's sister actively participates in the riots, which her parents fear for. As the novel progress, we see Ashley finding her voice and standing up for herself.

This book educates people about the injustices people of colour have faced and continue to face because of skin colour. We recommend this book, as it explores topics of privilege, racism, identity and shows that nothing has changed over the past years as people are still treated badly based on something irrelevant as the colour of their skin. If God made us is different shades that is something of beauty, not something humans have any place to judge and choose.

Thank you to the publisher for an advance copy via netgalley!

this book is a must read. Seeing life through the honest and Simple eyes of a teenager makes you realize how life isn’t easy for a lot of individuals, no matter their social class, due to their roots. It’s not an easy subject of discussion but something that should be spoken about, and loudly without taboo. this book enables you to briefly walk in the shoes of a person that experiences discrimination so much that it becomes just a normal part of her life. It’s not an easy experience. But worth the eye opening.

This story takes place in 1992, and it follows a girl named Ashley during the Rodney King riots in LA. This is truly a coming of age story about Ashley as she struggles with her identity. She learns a lot about herself, her friends, and her family throughout the book. She deals with a lot of microaggressions from her friends. This book took me a little bit to get into, but once I was into it, I was hooked. I raced through the second half. I really appreciated Ashley as a far from perfect character, as a teenager who is still learning and messing up. This book is also so relevant today. This is a great debut novel, and I can’t wait to read more from this author! ⁣

This one packs a punch. It’s set in 1992 LA during the Rodney King riots and we follow high school senior, Ashley, as she navigates college applications, familial tension, racism and friend drama, all while trying to find her place in the world. I loved how uncomfortably realistic most of the characters and situations were. The reader is forced to sit in that discomfort as Ashley comes to terms with the covert racism of her close friends and peers. It’s difficult, yet so important.

Despite being based on a true event, 28 year ago, it’s pretty hard to ignore the fact that in 2020 the same issues are prevalent. Much like how I list The Hate U Give as a must-read, The Black Kids is just as important.

The Black Kids is a stunning debut from Christina Hammonds Reed. It takes place during the LA Riots in 1992, following a 17-year-old Black girl through her last days at a mostly white private-school. To say it’s relevant today is a massive understatement.

It’s no wonder this book is being optioned as Reed, thanks in large part to her own real-life experience, has created a dramatic chronicling of those important times.

With historical context, near perfect prose, and a cast list perfectly conceived, this is a big winner. And the film should boast one of the great soundtracks of our time if they stick close to the source material.

4.5 stars!

Ashley Bennett is in her senior year at high school spending more time skipping classes and hanging out with friends rather than going to school. In the backdrop to her senior year, protests and riots erupt in L.A. Ashley's older, newly married sister Jo becomes active in the riots and supporting the call for justice for Rodney King, and her parents who are convincing her to stay out of it. Ashley has a front row seat to both being active in the fight for justice and avoiding it; with her parents trying to seek comfort in the rather privileged (wealthy) life they have built for themselves.

This slow burn of a book really packs a punch. Ashley was a great character to follow: she has incredible character development; she is flawed and confused, and has some incredible learning moments along the way. You can't help but like her and root for her. The Black Kids is an excellently written coming of age story exploring identity, what it means to be Black, and how ignoring a problem doesn't mean that it will go away or not impact you. Even though the story takes place in 1992, it is still incredibly relevant today.

Reading this was very similar to how I felt when I was reading The Vanishing Half. Reed's writing is so poignant and profound, at the end of every chapter or breaks within chapters I had to sit for a minute to digest what I just read. Reed takes the reader on a beautiful journey with Ashley in coming to terms with her identity and how her relationships with family and friends strengthen and fizzle out because of this.

Thank you to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster Canada for an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

.
"How do I tell people I barely know that I'm angry and sad, but also embarrassed? That I feel that anger along my spine, holding up the very shape of me, and in my fingertips like a curled fist. That the sadness is like a dull ache, heavy in the muscles fighting to keep my head up"

Wow. Just wow. What an incredible debut from a brilliant new voice. The Black Kids is the story of Ashley Bennett, a black teenager living in LA during the Rodey King riots of 1992. Ashley's family is wealthy, and she spends most of her time with white kids at a school for privleged youth. But when the LAPD murders a black man and protesters begin to rise up, it starts a chain reaction within Ashley's life as she begins to question everything she always told herself about who is "us" and who is "them".

This book astounded me. The writing was phenomenal, lyrical, almost like prose, but still sometimes read witty and bright like a traditional YA narrative. Although the plot was set against the backdrop of the 1992 protests, the subject matter is so alarmingly familiar that it could easily be taking place in 2020, which is obviously just disheartening. We see Ashley experience so much growth through the novel as she re-examins her identity, and Hammonds Reed somehow balances youthful levity and the captivating and harrowing commentary on racism in America both during the 1992 riots and today.

This book is being recommended for those who loved "The Hate U Give" (is there anyone who didn't???) but I think it's a thing of beauty in its own right. I loved it and will definitely be buying a physical copy.

This debut novel follows the story of high school senior Ashley as she navigates relationships, priorities and the challenges of growing up. The 1992 Rodney King riots hang over the story and have a profound impact on Ashley’s journey and challenge her previously held beliefs. This is well written and compelling story that should be a must read for high school students and adults alike. If you enjoyed The Hate U Give, this would be a great book to add to your reading list!

I really wanted to like this book. It started out okay but then it dragged and I couldn't see where the story was going. Currently I have it as a DNF. Perhaps I will return to it again in the future.

I requested and received an e-ARC of this book from Christina Hammonds Reid and Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers through NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. I loved Ashley's perspective of the Rodney King verdict and subsequent riots and how her thoughts changed as she discovered more of her family's history and her own identity. I thought this nook was very relevant and I would love to see another book featuring Ashley set during our current BLM movement and how her views and thoughts may have changed over the years.

I'd rate this a 2.5.
I had a hard time with this book-it took me forever to get through, despite being extremely excited to read it.

The Black Kids is about a teenager named Ashley, who is living in LA during the Rodney King trial and following riots. Ashley, and her group of friends, are navigating life in LA, finishing high school and hanging out, through all the turmoil. Life gets more complicated when Ashley unintentionally starts a rumour about one of her classmates.

I thought the premise of the book was so interesting-but I was surprised that it didn't exactly focus on the Rodney King riots, that was a side plot. The book focused on Ashley and her senior year, with her friends and family. Let me start by saying that almost everyone in this book, except perhaps Lucia, Lana, Harrison and LaShawn (and his friends) were so extremely unlikeable. Ashley's friends were shockingly horrible people. Ashley herself wasn't much better, she was selfish, never stood up for herself or others until the end and engaged in a lot of wrong behaviour. She forgave to easily and very clearly didn't know who she was, which is fine, but hard to read. I was shocked at a lot of things that were said and done in this book and do think it is important to be aware that people still treat each other this way today.

I really enjoyed the end, despite skimming through most of the book. The highlight of the story was the relationship between Ashley and LaShawn. LaShawn was the best character by far, he was so real, so sincere and true to himself. There were other moments I enjoyed as well, I think the author successfully captured the experience of a black teenager living in LA during that time, there were a lot of horrible, shocking events that occurred which were extremely sad but necessary to know about. Ashley's parents had molded her to be this young woman who was unaware of what was around her, they wanted to protect her from things which is understandable, however this just made her accept things she shouldn't have. They were so judgemental, her sister Jo was all over the place and the rest of her family she wasn't that close to.

The writing felt extremely choppy to me, I felt like so much was mentioned that didn't need to be, it kind of jumped around from here to there without much connecting it. There were a couple of times I thought the story was over, but kept going. It really wasn't what I thought it would be at all. I appreciate the author covering important and difficult subjects, race, sexuality, familial challenges, prejudice, etc., however, the book just didn't stick with me, it was hard to get through.

PDF : je suis malheureusement incapable de lire ce format. Ça me vexe car ce livre avait l'air vraiment bien.

If you enjoyed The Hate U Give, then you will probably enjoy this YA novel that is wonderfully written and explores topics such as simply coming of age, friendship, family relationships, mental health, race, racism, police brutality and social justice.

Set in 1992 during the Rodney King riots, this novel is relevant to the world in which we still live in today. The main character is Ashley, a Black teenager in a mostly white school and she is a senior getting ready to graduate high school and move on. When Rodney King, a Black man, is beaten by four white police officers who are then acquitted by the jury, the riots that occur cause Ashley to start really thinking about life.

The riots are the back drop to the story, which at its core is very character driven and talks a lot about the choices we make and the friends we keep. I think the characters were really well thought out. This was an eye opening and enlightening read that I think adults and young readers will enjoy and also learn a lot from. With the current times and recent events, I think that this book is very relevant. Thanks to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster Canada for sending me this one.

Christina Hammonds Reed's The Black Kids is a novel you won't be able to put down. Beautifully well-written, heart-wrenching and candid, this story interweaves a narrative of coming-of-age, friendship, race, racism, and social justice set during the 1992 Rodney King riots, sadly relevant to the world we are in today.

I absolutely loved Reed's strong development of characters, specifically Ashley, the protagonist. Through Ashley's perspective, questions of identity and belonging are explored as she wrestles important questions in search for truth and justice.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and cannot recommend it enough. Thank you Christina Reed for this important and impactful narrative. As a Junior High and High School English teacher, this is a novel I will have available to my students.

A special thank-you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for this advanced copy.

Rating: 4.5
The Black Kids is this intimate and deeply thought-provoking novel that touches on so many important topics like racism, generational trauma, mental health, family, classism among a slew of others.

“Sometimes it's hard being a girl, and it’s hard being black. Being both is like carrying a double load, but you’re not supposed to complain about it. There are so many things you have to remember about how to be ”

This novel takes place in 1996 and centers around seventeen-year-old Ashley who is weeks away from graduating high school when Rodney King is beaten up by four white police officers who are then acquitted by the jury, even though the entire assault is caught on video. The riots and uprising that take place stir something in Ashley and she soon enters down a path of self-discovery.

I love that we get a very intimate look at the infamous L.A riots through the eyes of one family. The riots aren’t really a heavy part of the book and are used more as the backdrop of the story. It makes the story of these riots so much more impactful because of how large of an effect it has on not only Ashley but her entire community including her Mom, Dad, sister, cousin, and Uncle. Even though it’s a story I’ve heard well I wasn’t born when the L.A riots happened and it made me understand them in a more concrete way that I never would’ve without this novel.

I don’t think I’ve ever connected with any other character the way I did with Ashley. For the first time ever I truly saw myself in a character. I feel like I am Ashley. We even share the same name (though Ashley is my middle name). I too am a black girl who grew up in a predominantly white neighborhood and had almost an all completely white group of friends. The thoughts and emotions that were detailed in Ashley’s story were often word for word what I remember going through in my own head. The author illustrated in a way that I have never seen what it’s like to grow up black but never truly feel black enough because your experiences and your life is divorced from the realities that so many other black people face. She showcases with such a hard and stark clarity what it’s like to be so afraid of embracing “black interests” out of fear of being seen as a stereotype and “lowering yourself” To see Ashley grow and become increasingly comfortable in herself and her blackness was such a cathartic experience because I myself have gone through such a journey and some days I feel like I’m still on it.

This book is slow-paced, not really action-packed but so filled to the brim with endearing characters and so wonderfully enthralling it will fly by.

EVERYONE and I really mean everyone should pick up this book. I promise you you won’t regret it.

This book takes place in 1992 during the riots that occurred following the brutal beating of Rodney King by police officers. For obvious reasons, this story is extremely relevant today. I think this is a book that everyone should be reading right now as I found it extremely interesting and enlightening to be in the head of a young Black girl during this time. I thought Reed did an amazing job with the characters in this book; the relationship between all the members of our main characters' family was incredibly complex, especially the relationship between Jo and everyone else. It took me a while to warm up to Ashley since she kept making really bad decisions but I think she had a very satisfying arc. My only issue with this book is that I didn't totally love this writing style; the narration would often go back and forth between talking about current events and looking at our main character's memories and I sometimes had trouble figuring out which one was happening. That being said, I'm really happy I read this and look forward to reading some own voices reviews of this book and assure everyone to seek those out as well.

tw: racism, police brutality, cheating

Special thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for providing me with access to an early e-arc for an honest review.

The Black Kids is an ambitious and powerful debut novel from Christina Hammonds Reed!

It’s an unapologetic coming-of-age story set against the backdrop of the 1992 Rodney King Riots. It features complex characters and relationships through a unique perspective; Layering in thought provoking commentary on systemic racism, identity and class.

My favourite thing about this book was how character driven it was. Each character interconnected and impacted one another, which gave a full three sixty perspective on how far and deep the important issues raised can go.

With the current times, I found this book more relevant than ever. It’s an insightful and educational read that you should be including in your 2020 reading list.

The only reason I am docking a star is because I struggled a little bit with the growth/character arc of Ashely (the M/C). I also did not agree with one of the choices that she made because I felt that it took away from exploring more important aspects of her characters relationships.

Ashley Bennett is too content spending her senior year lounging by the pool to worry about the social issues her sister is so passionate about. But when four cops are acquitted of a Black man’s near fatal beating, LA goes up in flames, and Ashley’s not just one of the girls anymore. She’s one of the Black kids.

LOVED
+ This is a slow, character driven novel, but effortless writing from Christina Hammonds Reed makes it a charmingly smooth read, even through difficult discussions on race and mental health. It reads like a modern classic, and I encourage teachers on this platform to consider it for YA classroom reading material. If this is what Reed can accomplish with her debut, I’m eager to see what’s next.
+ I had no prior knowledge of the 1992 Rodney King Riots—which act as the backdrop for Ashely’s story, and a catalyst for her character arc—or the Tulsa Race Riots of 1921; that this book can educate a new generation is an added bonus. But, in Reed’s own words, this is not a book about a riot. It’s a love letter to Los Angeles, and to the beauty and pain of the Black experience in the city. Most of all, it’s a picture of girlhood subsiding.
+ The characters are deeply flawed, and that’s no accident. Ashely is not the Strong Black Woman. Instead, Reed brings us a girl sheltered by the security of her wealth, who accepts the insensitivity of her white friends and turns away from the hurt that afflicts her community; a girl who stumbles, still soft and uncertain, into a kinder, less fearful self.

THOUGHTS
+ I happened to pick this up soon after finishing THUG, a book to which inevitable comparisons have been drawn. However, I strongly recommend reading the author’s Q&A with We Need Diverse Books, where she touches on why those comparisons can be a disservice to Black authors. That being said, both feel terrifyingly current.
+ At the heart of this book is what touched me most: the portrayal of complex family dynamics. There are strained relationships, deep love, and trauma and secrets that fill the spaces between them. It’s sad, and it’s beautiful, and it’s joyful all at once.

I'm not a fan of YA books but with all that's happened in the world lately I still want to see different perspectives. And, oh boy! The Black Kids, certainly delivers.

This novel takes us to a different time but its circumstances aren't too different from the ones we are still seeing today, even though it's set over 25 years ago.

This is a book that talks about racism, self-identification and privilege in a very unique way. All while also being a coming of age story.

There's a lot going on in this story and the writing is up to the task!

This book is an absolute must read! There is no other way to put it. It was gut-wrenching, eye-opening, and beautifully written. “The Black Kids” by Christina Hammonds Reed is a relevant read for both young adults and adults alike, and I couldn’t recommend it highly enough.

I want to preface this review by saying that I will not be commenting on the representation in this book, as I am not a Black reviewer. It is important to listen to OwnVoices reviewers, and I will be seeking their reviews as soon as this book is published. I encourage you to do the same!

*Content warnings: this book deals with heavy topics, such as racism and police violence; brief mentions of cancer, physical abuse, and attempted suicide.

“The Black Kids” tells the story of Ashely Bennett and her family during the 1992 Rodney King Riots. The Bennetts are a wealthy Black family living in Los Angeles who have dealt with racism their whole lives. Not only does this book discuss racism and police violence, but it also has themes of finding one's identity, growing up, and finding one’s place in the world.

“The Black Kids” is phenomenal and such an important read. One of the stand out aspects of this book is how educational and eye-opening it is. As someone born after 1992, I did not know many things about the Rodney King Riots before this book. I realized this while reading the book and I plan to continue to educate myself by doing more research. Along with being educational on American history, it was also very eye-opening regarding racism. This book showed me just how much I still need to learn.

As the official book summary says, this book is a coming-of-age novel. There’s messy relationships, awkward encounters, and talk of graduation, colleges and futures. And, beyond that, the themes of growing up, finding yourself, and making mistakes are prevalent throughout the book. “The Black Kids” shows that it is beautiful to evolve and grow—even if that growth is away from people you love and closer to people you never expected to love.

The writing style is amazing! I am so glad I read this in an ebook format, as I highlighted over 100 passages. ONE HUNDRED! This just goes to show how strong the writing is in this book. There were lines that made me gasp, lines that made me think, lines that made me cry, and lines I will go back to read over and over again for a long time.

You have to read this book! HAVE! Even if you are not the target audience, there is still so much value in picking up this title. I promise you, you will learn so much. It’s so important to challenge yourself and educate yourself, and this book is a great start to doing just that. Plus, it’s a really great read, with such in-depth characters and a crisp setting. I highly recommend this book to everyone!

This e-ARC was provided by NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada in exchange for an honest review.