Raw, compelling, and painfully real, THE BLACK KIDS immerses the reader in 1992 Los Angeles at the time of the Rodney King riots, and the mind of a 17-year-old black girl searching for her identity. Despite Ashley's deceptively flippant narration at the beginning, it's not a simple story: the memories and impressions she shares double back on themselves, and what looks straightforward at first proves to be anything but. Masterfully written and packed with telling details, this book not only opens a window into historical events that many white readers know little about, it challenges readers to acknowledge the prejudice, injustice, and generational anguish that even wealthy and seemingly privileged black girls like Ashley can't escape.

Content: realistic profanity and vulgarity, mentions of graphic violence, and mature themes.

Where, oh where do I start?

This is hands-down one of the best books I've read this year. It's also the type of book where you sit down when you're done, and you just kind of stare into space for a bit, feeling sad that it's over but better for having read it.

The Black Kids is a beautiful and sometimes painful coming-of-age story that follows Ashley, one of only a small number of Black girls in her high school. Sheltered from racism and inequality as much as possible by her parents, she grows up mostly only knowing life in her upper class neighborhood and her high school where her white friends tell her she isn't too "Blackity-Black". She begins to see and understand the wide chasm between her life and the life of other Black families in L.A. during the 1992 riots that follow the acquittal of the four cops charged with the beating of Rodney King. The chapters show us Ashley's changing views of the world, her growth, and her desire to understand her family's background.

Not only was the prose in this story beautiful, it filled me with an incredible nostalgia. I was almost the same age as Ashley in 1992 and I recognized the pop culture references, the fashions, and - era aside - the feeling of having your whole life lying in front of you.

The story felt incredibly real to me, the characters were all three-dimensional people that you may have known yourself in the throes of high school, and the ending was a perfect balance between completing the story while still leaving me to wish there were 500 more pages so I could follow Ashley's life even longer.

This is Christina Hammonds Reed's debut novel but I'm sure this is not going to be her last one. I am an instant fan and can't wait to read whatever else she writes.

This book hits shelves on August 4th; do yourself a favor and get your hands on it immediately. It is absolute magic and a wonderful book.

I remember the Rodney King beating and the ensuing LA riots and will pass along this book for my daughter to read to give her perspective into this time period along with what is going on in the world right now. I enjoyed this book although did find it getting a bit long by the end. I had originally picked up this book because of it being marketed to fans of the Hate U Give. This book was more of a coming to age book than one about police brutality – the LA riots being more in the background of the book. Thank you to Simon and Schuster and netgalley for the ARC.

Christina Hammonds Reed’s debut novel The Black Kids has been compared to the wonderful books The Hate U Give (Angie Thomas) and Dear Martin (Nic Stone). People will compare it to the 2020 George Floyd death & riots, but this YA book is about the 1992 Rodney King riots. What all these topics have in common is Black Lives Matter and they will help get young people talking.

Reed weaves the past and present in this coming of age historical fiction drama, about a war between the world and racism. Sad that some of our history has come back to repeat itself.
As readers, it makes us wonder the fundamental question right now: Is anything different this time?
What can we do different this time to make lasting change?

Thank you #netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This read was a slow one for me. Not for reasons one might think.
At first, I’ll admit I wasn’t a fan of the writing style. Once I got more into the fabulous character development and depth I began to connect more.
It remained a slow read because it made me sad, it made me uncomfortable, it opened my mind. It made me think.
It was a read so close to our current ugly reality, making it difficult for me to get through at times.
Reminding me that I will never fully understand. That I am privileged.
However I stand and recommend this very important YA read to readers young and old. We could all use a reminder to open our hearts and our minds.
I want to thank @netgalley and @simonandschuster for the ecopy ARC. Thank you for allowing me this opportunity. I learned from reading this book.

I received this book from Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for a honest review.

I had problems with this book. It had more problematic issues then I thought. I don't know why this book got 5 stars rating from a lot of reviewer but I can honestly say I would not recommend this book to my younger audience.

I have issues with promoting racism towards people who were not black. It does not matter if she had with friends of different skin tones.I know everyone will be like but Black people can't be racist against other races. Yes they can.

Spoilers down below


The book also romanticize bad behavior like breaking into someone's else house, shooting out someone's tires, starting a rumor about a poor black boy stealing shoes so she could go to that school and sleeping with her best friend's boyfriend.

Yes her friend should have not said the N word but you should have been honest and told her you were interested in her boyfriend before having sex with him.

What makes it worst she ends up with the black boy. She started the rumor with about him stealing the shoes about.

This is not the book that will teach young adults what being a person of color means.

An excellent debut novel that is destined for comparisons to Angie Thomas and to the protests that have happened in 2020. The bulk of the novel takes place during the LA riots that happened in 1992 after police officers were acquitted for assaulting Rodney King. Ashley is a Black high school student who attends a fancy private school and has mostly grown up around affluent white people. Over the course of the riots, her views of race and privilege slowly start to expand through interactions and conversations with various people in her life (her protesting sister, her cousin that is less well off, the Black scholarship student at her school).

This is such an excellent book for our current moment and it was impossible to read without thinking about all the parallels to the world in our current moment. Debates over protests vs riots, looting, damaging property, and use of force by the police are all in here. None of it feels heavy handed, but comes across as an awakening process that Ashley experiences in a short period of time. Truly an electric debut.

I was so looking forward to this book! I thought it was a great coming of age story. In some spots the book felt a little slow, but I did read it in a day. It also wasn't one of my favourite reads with a black lead, but I think it's such an important read!

It takes place in 1992, but it hits home on everything that is happening in 2020.

I recommend reading this if you're looking for a coming of age read that deals with race, violence, class, riots, and friendships.

Thank you so much Netgalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for providing me with a copy!

Thank you NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Canada for giving me an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Ashley's coming of age story in the 90s amidst the controversy and movement behind the injustices of race and class is not only powerful, but evocative and relevant reading in the politically charged climate of today.

"The Black Kids" follows the narrator, Ashley, a young black teenager who comes to terms with her identity amongst the Rodney King protests. She grows up struggling to relate to her community due to the privileges her parents have afforded her all her life, finally questioning the system and culture shock that comes with watching an innocent black man beaten to death by the police on every TV screen in the vicinity. Although her growth is not immediate, the way the story unfolds as we follow Ashley's journey is one that is told with a delicate balance and in powerful imagery, that perhaps many will find relatable and informative.

Her older sister, Jo, is politically active in the community, much to her family's chagrin, and this is a catalyst in Ashley's story as she comes to realize the injustices black people face every day, all around her. Even her own family.

"The Black Kids" is a powerful, thought-provoking novel that is primarily about the struggle of finding your identity and your place amongst the world when there is a constant focus on all that makes us different. Race, class, gender, and sexual orientation are all difficult topics that are addressed as Ashley navigates her final year of high school during a time not all too different than ours today.

I really liked Ashley’s growth throughout the book. She learns a lot about herself and being black. This book touches on many important topics - race, classism, gender, and sexuality.

This book is important and powerful. To think in ‘92 these riots and outrage over police brutality took place, and now 28 years later the same thing is happening again, and has happened multiple times throughout the decades. And yet nothing has changed. It’s sad, frustrating, and infuriating.

I received an eARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This heavy emotional book centres around a young, rich teenage black girl during the Rodney King riots. This book may be, what some call, historical but is sadly exactly what is happening present day. It left me with my heart hurting, feeling sad and angry that things have not changed. I hope by reading this book, those people privileged enough to not to live their lives under constant fear will open their eyes to what is reality to too many people. The author does an amazing job of creating characters that cover a variety of backgrounds and upbringing, blending them into groups and friends. She gives us the point of view from somebody who at first doesn’t think it really affects her until she faces reality and sees for herself what her parents tried to protect her from. This book would be a great companion read to The Hate U Give and I believe it should be a required read for high school students and politicians both. It will touch your soul and I experienced so many emotions while reading this. I couldn’t put it down as it was not only an important topic but a beautifully written book. I thank NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Canada for allowing my the honour of reading this book.

The Black Kids is an amazing educational book. It talks about real life problems like racism and teaches people more about it. It’s an amazingly written book and I definitely recommend others to read it!

“Because things have to get better, don’t they? Or maybe they don’t. But we do.”
Reading this book couldn’t come at a better time for me. It fits in with what is going on in the world today, as well as letting the reader know that racism has been going on for far longer then now in 2020.
I will pick up anything this author writes. The writing was amazing. I loved the growth of the main character as well as some of the friends in her friend group. I loved the family dynamic. And also that it let the reader know just because a POC is rich, doesn’t mean they are exempt from racism. I learned a lot from reading this book and I thank Netgalley so very much for letting me read this early.
The only thing I wished there was more of was about the Rodney King trial, but that was on me. I am now going to go research more about Rodney king and what happened with that.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Canada for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

"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."

With the '92 LA, Rodney King riots as its backdrop, The Black Kids could not be more relevant as anti-Black racism is being centred on social media and protests are taking place in cities around the world.

Ashley struggles with her identity as a wealthy Black teenager who goes to a school where she doesn’t really mix with the other Black kids, many of whom are there on scholarship. At the beginning of the book, she’s not sure how she feels about the riots and admits she isn’t paying it much attention, but as the story progresses, she begins to realize just how much anti-Black racism affects her and her family – now and in the past.

The story also centres around conflict within her own family:
- A sister whose passion for justice conflicts with the bubble of safety her parents have built for her
- An uncle who resents her father for moving to a wealthy, white suburb
- Parents who hide her family’s dark history so their daughters don't have to shoulder the weight

I really enjoyed reading about Ashley's struggle with her identity and how she developed over the course of the book. I found it enlightening to see the many different ways she and other Black characters in the book reacted to and felt about the riots and everything that was unfolding around them.

The Black Kids is an amazing debut and the cover art is beautiful! I know many of us are working to diversify our reading so if you’re looking for a fictional story that blends real events, focuses on anti-Black racism and explores different opinions on riots, I highly recommend this one!

I loved this book. The cover was intruguing and the story was even better. This novel really reflects on how things have nit changed today from the 90s which is so depressing. I really liked how it showed the struggles of high school and being black in a basically all white school and the unconscious bias people have. I would highly reccomend this novel.

The Black Kids is a coming of age story set in LA in the 90s. After LAPD police officers are acquitted after almost beating a black man to death, rioters start lighting the city on fire. Ashley Bennett, a wealthy black teenager tries to maintain her normal life in the middle of a crisis.

I really wanted to like this book more than I did. The premise sounded interesting and I'm always here for diverse books. Unfortunately, there were a few things that took me out of the story. The author waited too long to reveal that the book is set in the 90s and it took me by surprise when she did. I just wanted time and place to be revealed a little sooner.

I also feel like most of the things that happened in this book were in the background and that the protagonist wasn't very active.  I didn't want to compare it in my head to The Hate U Give, but I couldn't help it, and it just didn't stand up to that novel.

That being said, it was still an enjoyable and poignant read that fans of The Hate U Give will enjoy.

Thanks to Simon & Schuster Canada for providing a digital ARC of The Black Kids in exchange for an honest review.

The Black Kids is the kind of book where you can feel the effort put into each and every word. Not only is the pace good, it's immaculate. I don't remember a single sentence of this book I didn't like.

You get invested in the main character, everyone around her, and the book's message as a whole.

I didn't even exist in the 90s and this book made me nostalgic. That's how well this is written.