This book was everything! I loved walking through life with Maverick as a 17 year old. There is so much light shed on his past/experiences, and it was enlightening in a lot of ways.

I loved this book. I’m so glad NetGalley let me read it early. I honestly didn’t think I’d be approved!


Maverick doesn’t have a life like mine, but he matters, and I’m honored to have be a small part of his world. This book was amazingly well written and intriguing. I loved it.

Thank you Angie Thomas for being the creative wonderful writer you are!

Taking place before Starr is born, this book delves into Maverick and how he got out of the King Lord gang. It intertwines the difficulty of being a Black boy who becomes a father, not once but twice before he turns 18. Angie does an amazing job of portraying Mav’s voice and teaching the hardships of not only being a gangbanger, but a teen father and the choices to make for his family. I can’t wait to introduce this to students.

I have read all of Angie Thomas' books and they are all so good! Maverick was such a great character in THUG, so I was really excited to see more of the back story.

This was a great story with a little bit of everything: love, mistakes, drama, and some big epiphanies for Maverick. I feel like a lot of the relationships in THUG are more clear to me now, and even not having all my questions overtly answered didn't change how much I liked the story.

I'll need to get more than one copy when this comes out - I can't keep these books on my shelves.

*ARC though Netgalley for an honest review

Head back to Garden Heights to hear Maverick’s story.. I felt like I was visiting old friends and it was so good to see them! You don’t want to miss this one!

I absolutely loved everything about this book! So many great references to The Hate U Give. The Concrete Rose made me want to go back to read The Hate U Give again! I loved the silly jokes that Angie slipped into the book, especially with the Jordans from Red. I’d recommend this book to anyone and everyone that loves a great read. I finished it in a day and I’m a slow reader. We will definitely be buying this book for our middle/high school library.

Damn, Angie trying to break me into little pieces again and succeeding. I freaking loved Maverick as Starr’s dad—to see him as a broken and struggling new teen dad was freaking killer. He’s such a dynamic character and you want him to succeed so bad—you also know he will succeed, which makes it all the better. There’s also a real sly cameo during the college visit that about had me hitting someone. I was incredibly impressed with her ability to channel a teen boy’s voice believably and emotionally. This was a read I won’t soon forget.

I was expecting something amazing and Angie Thomas did not disappoint. Learning more about Maverick and what he was like as a young adult really helped me better understand his motivations in The Hate U Give. I feel like there is still more of his story to tell and I’ll be ready for it if that happens, but I’m also glad we got to know Maverick.

I read Concrete Rose almost in a day -- it's hard to put down and like Angie Thomas's other books, grabs you from the first word. The book is actually the prequel to The Hate U Give, and provides the reader with a history of Maverick, Starr's and Seven's father. Many of the characters from The Hate U Give are present in the book, in their younger selves, including King, Iesha, Lisa, Khalil, and others. We meet the young Maverick when he has just learned that he will become a 17 year old father to Seven, and soon after, to Starr. He narrates his story with humor, authenticity and heart.

Maverick's life is hard - his father is incarcerated, his mother is his rock but overworked and underpaid, and he struggles with his decision to be part of gang life and what he sees as a better choice for his family. We follow his thoughts as he deliberates, as well as his emotions as he finally realizes what is the right thing to do. Concrete Rose, like Starr's life in The Hate U Give, is a coming of age story, and provides much context to the people, places and events that we meet as we get to know Starr and her family and helps us to develop empathy for Maverick. The way that the book is written, it can be read before or after The Hate U Give..

I highly recommend this book for the YA audience, but it is a very entertaining and necessary read for adults as well. The book highlights real life themes such as teen parenthood, gang life as a surrogate for family, parental incarceration and the demands on the lives of young Black men.

#Netgalley #ConcreteRose

Another incredible book from Angie Thomas.
This books covers life, death, love, family, heartbreak and so much more. We also get some cameos from On the Come Up and Dear Martin (and of course the obvious connections to THUG). I loved getting into Maverick's world and watching as he struggled to leave the set while dealing with being a teen parent. Even if you hadn't read THUG yet you could still enjoy this book! Thomas covers topics like gangs, death, racism, and so much more. I highly recommend and will be buying a copy for my classroom!

This book brought me back to the world of Garden Heights. I love a good origin story/prequel, and Maverick was one of my favorite characters in The Hate U Give, so it was very interesting to see his background. I did not feel like there was a strong social justice presence in this book like Thomas's previous books; however, the lessons learned were just as important. Seeing Maverick as a teenage father and still trying to go through the motions of life was very realistic and eye-opening! I feel like if you loved THUG-- you will enjoy this read!

This may be my favorite Angie Thomas book yet! It gives so much depth and back story to Maverick, Lisa, King and so many characters from The Hate You Give. It is also written in a way that it could be read as a stand alone book. After reading it, I want to reread The Hate You Give because I know will appreciate the back story. From the start is is engaging, raw, real and makes you feel like you are inside Maverick's head. It addresses the reality of teen pregnancy and selling drugs without glossing over the complicated emotions and situations connected to it. Showing having a baby through the eyes of a teen father was a really new take and one that was needed. Maverick was the perfect character to illustrate the impact of being a father as a teen. Angie Thomas writes in a way that feels so real and honest. This book is perfect example of that. I can't wait to share this book with teens! It is a must read and something to look forward to in 2021.

OMG. This is Angie Thomas' best book so far- and that is saying something. There seems to be an influx of YA novels right now that take place in this time period, and this one gets it RIGHT. It is nostalgic for older readers, but not at all confusing or misplaces for teen readers. It is YA and it knows that is the audience. I couldn't stop reading this engaging, raw, difficult story and cheering for Mav and Lisa. Although technically a prequel to The Hate U Give, this could be read on its own and be just as enjoyable. I can't wait to rave about this book and buy copies for everyone I know!

2020 has sucked in every way, I have had a hard time focusing and been distracted a lot. Reading has been tough, what was once and escape has eluded me, until today. I read this whole damn book in one day.....I haven’t done that in so long! I didn’t do anything after work but read, I left myself fall back into the world with Mav, Lisa, King and the whole Garden Heights crew.

This book takes us back before Star was born and shows us how Big Mav, Star’s dad and hero, became the man we saw in The Hate You Give. We meet all the players as younger, purer versions of themselves and watch how their decisions force them to make tough choices.

There are few surprises, some only a few will get, but for us all this book is an escape, a reminder too that things may be tough and seem insurmountable but you just have a start of a plan and you can get through it.

I can not wait to put this in my classroom for kids to read.

As a fan of The Hate U Give, I am looking forward to sharing #ConcreteRose with our students. In this book we learn more about Maverick, Starr's father and how he became the man, the father, and the community member he was in THUG. This book could certainly be a stand-alone; one does not have to read THUG to read Concrete Rose or vice versa. However, each does paint a complete picture of Maverick's and Starr's lives, the communities they grew up in, the experiences they lived, and more. Angie Thomas shares a beautiful picture of community and family and self-selected family through these two generations--focusing on Maverick's struggles and growth as he becomes a young father. I definitely recommend this text for all libraries and classrooms. Thank you to #NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC!

I have been so excited to read this book since Angie Thomas announced it! Maverick was such a great character in THUG, so getting an entire book focused on him as a kid the same age as Starr was great! Much like THUG, this book was one to devour in a single sitting. Thomas's writing was as clear, crisp, and real as always. I appreciated that she didn't code switch in this book, so it felt like Maverick really was telling his own story. While I really enjoyed this book, I was left wanting a little bit more with the end of story. But maybe Angie is leaving a window for another book?

I have been waiting for Maverick's point of view since reading The Hate U Give.

Maverick is a senior in high school his dad is locked up and his mom is working really hard to make ends meet. Maverick and his best friend King start selling weed to make some extra money. When his cousin Dre finds out he makes Maverick quit because he wants Maverick to be better than him. Maverick also is left at the doctor's office with a three-month-old when he finds out he's the father of the baby and needs to find a way to tell his girlfriend Lisa.

Learning Mavericks back story was why he decided to be out of the game makes you want to root for him even more.

I was so excited to see that Angie Thomas wrote a prequel to "The Hate U Give" and once I started reading, I did not want to put it down. Maverick's story at age seventeen is filled with heart, humor, good and bad choices, and the angst of growing up and taking responsibility. The ending is perfection. Highly recommended.

It was nice to get to know Maverick (Starr's father) and his backstory. He has to grow up quickly when he finds out that he's the father of a baby boy whose mother abandons him with Maverick the second she finds out that he is his. Maverick has to navigate being a single parent while still being in high school and then becoming a parent again when he finds out his girlfriend is pregnant. He also has to deal with his father, who is in prison, dealing drugs with his gang, and his new part-time job.