The Black Kids by Christina Hammonds Reed is a slow burning story about self discovery.

It is 1992 in Los Angeles when Rodney King is horrifically beaten by the police. Protesters are angry and soon rioting and looting begin. But, despite being black, Ashley initially feels far removed from this. She lives in a beautiful home, in a nice neighborhood. Her parents are working professionals. She attends a prestigious private school. Her friends are the popular white kids and have been for as long as she can remember. She has never wanted for anything.

Ashley's sister Jo now lives in the protest areas. It is where she set up home with her husband - the one she married in secret. Despite their parents asking her to come home where they know she will be safe, Jo refuses. What she actually wants is to get involved in the protests. Ashley and Jo's father grew up not far from where Jo now lives. His brother, Ashley's uncle, still lives there, where runs the vacuum store their mother left them.

With all that is going on, Ashley soon starts questioning if the life she is living is the one she belongs in, and why.

I found myself putting this book aside about the 60-70% mark to take a break. When I picked it back up again to finish reading it, the pacing seemed to suddenly pick up. Everything that had been going on began to come together and the story gained momentum as it approached the ending.

The pacing moves slowly through the first 2/3rds of the book and I sometimes struggled to stay engaged. However, the subject matter is important and the story is worth a read, so I am glad I returned to it.

3.5/5 🌟 from me.

A warm thank you to Simon & Schuster UK, Simon & Schuster Children's UK, and NetGalley for the free copy of this novel in exchange for an impartial review.

I thought this was a well written book that covered a lot of relevant topics such as systematic racism, privilege, and identity, that relate what is going on in the world today. The character of Ashley is interesting because she is a character who has a lot of flaws herself and often doesn’t recognise her identity at the start of the novel. What I liked is you get to see her develop as a character and see her change and realise the mistakes she has made throughout the book. I thought this was a vital read and I gave it 4.5/5. stars. Would highly recommend it.

Full review. :

https://isobelsbookishthoughts.wordpress.com/2020/08/27/book-review-the-black-kids-by-christina-hammonds-reed/

I didn't get very far with reading this story of young adult relationships as I don't enjoy swearing. I know it's how young people often speak, particularly between themselves, but I'm not sure we need to encourage/reinforce it.

I've tried a couple of times to get into this book but sadly it's just not for me at the moment. I tried really hard but I couldn't get by the first hundred or so pages. I'm hoping to come back to it one day and be able to actually finish it but for now I have to DNF it which makes me sad because I've heard so many great things about this novel.

I could not wait to read this and ended up feeling as though it was just ok. The book itself is powerful and undeniably covers issues that are still prevalent in today's society. The book is set during the 1992 Los Angeles riots and it mirrors what we are seeing in the world in 2020 with the Black Lives Matter campaigns globally following the murder of George Floyd. Despite this, I didn't feel as though I was connected to the story.

The protagonist is shielded from the majority of the events in the story. She doesn't feel emotionally vulnerable or as though she relates to the 'Black Kids' in her school. Her parents have raised her and her sister this way to protect her. She has only white friends and doesn't seem to care what names they call her as long as she is one of the friendship group. It is only as the riots begin to impact her friends/family that she is affected and it doesn't seem to be much of an issue for her for the majority of the story.

I feel like the book should have been told from one of the characters who had been directly affected the riots and everyday racism in the school. LaShawn was my favourite character throughout and I could really empathise with the way he was treated for being poor and working hard to earn expensive things.

This book had so much potential, I'm disappointed I didn't love it as much as I thought I would. 2.5 stars.

The Black Kids is an amazing coming of age debut novel.

Set in Los Angeles, 1992, Ashley Bennett and her friends are at the end of senior year and essentially living their best lives. Until, one afternoon in April, when four LAPD officers are acquitted after beating a black man named Rodney King half to death. Suddenly, Ashley’s not just one of the girls. She’s one of the black kids. As violent protests engulf LA and the city burns, Ashley tries to continue on as if life were normal but as her sister gets dangerously involved in the riots and her family’s wealth begins to crumble. she can’t pretend anymore. With her world splintering around her, lifelong friendships are broken as Ashley finds out what her parents have tried to protect her from her whole life, and what it truly means to be Black in a White privileged world.

I loved the way the author wrote and told this story. There were so many incredible moments that resonated with me not just as a reader but a Black woman myself. There were some incredible quotes from this book such as:

‘We have to walk around being perfect all the time just to be seen as human. Don’t you ever get tired of being a symbol?’

and

“sometimes people, they see your skin, and all they know of you is war”

Ashley’s friends are really what stood out for me in this book as they often made comments about race or made risky decisions that they could probably themselves get out of but put Ashley at risk. They don’t acknowledge the fact that Ashley is not the same as them, the risks they take, Ashley can’t. I really loved Ashley’s relationship with LeShawn as he opened Ashley’s eyes to what the world is like and actually allowed her to be herself.

I loved Ashley as a narrator as she was extremely relatable. Even though her sister, Jo is a complex character I did like the fact she was very vocal about her opinon and black rights.

I really loved the setting of the book as well as the 1992 LA riots is not something we get a lot of books on. I could say it’s before my time since I’m a 2000s baby but I think the bigger issue is it’s not really talked about in the UK and therefore it feels very separate. I thought the author did a good job of telling Ashley’s story and the impact of the 1992 LA riots. I loved how she included all the news footage and little clips such Ashley’s first experience of hearing the N word. I felt that it really added to what the author was trying to do with the book. It also allows the reader to understand the importance of the issues surrounding race not just in the 1992 LA riots but even now.

This is an incredible book that touches on so many important topics such as police brutality, light skin privilege in families, being a Black kid and generational mental health.

What an incredible debut, with such an engaging writing style and searing social commentary on a whole range of issues.

I've not read any historical fiction that's set so close to our present, and so this felt like a seamless blend of contemporary coming-of-age with an immersive and realistic historical environment. There was also an unexpectedly sweet romance that is both a ray of light in what was, at times, a sombre novel, as well as having enough depth to anchor itself as part of Ashley's (the protagonist) coming-of-age story.

A standout aspect of 'The Black Kids' is the way it addresses a myriad of social injustices both within and without US borders, in a way that is organic and convincing within Ashley's life experience and the people she meets. Obviously one of the key themes here is that of race and racism, but Ashley isn't reduced to only her Blackness and the characters don't feel like vehicles for a theme. Sexism is also addressed, with particular focus on being a Black woman (hello, intersectional feminism).

LGBTQ+ issues were also touched upon, as well as the struggles faced during the AIDS crisis that was ongoing around the time of this story. 'The Black Kids' also reminded me how powerful the media is in shaping prejudice, and how I need to continuously interrogate my preconceptions. If people only ever consume negative coverage of foreign, poor, 'Other' communities, we'd all just carry on in bubbles of misunderstanding that lead to hate. I also liked that there's also not just one monolithic 'Black' identity shown here. There's a whole range of lives portrayed through Ashley's immediate family, her extended family and the painful history they carry, as well as all 'the black kids' at Ashley's school who she doesn't hang with because she runs with the white, popular crowd. Myriad experiences, but a shared history. We all have a stake in a better and fairer future.

The complicated dynamic within Ashley's family was very compelling. The relationship between Ashley's older sister Jo and their mother is especially tricky, as Jo clearly struggles with mental health issues (though not labelled as such) that her parents can't quite understand. It shows the belief that pervades many non-white cultures that depression and other MH issues are 'white people problems' that minority groups cannot afford to feel. Finding out about Ashley's old family history really hit hard as well. Before this year, I had never heard of the 1921 Tulsa race massacre before, nor the Greenwood District, a.k.a. 'Black Wall Street'. I guess I'd never realised how much history gets left out of History lessons.

Hammonds Reed's prose is gorgeous, beautiful in its imagery yet instantly understandable. Evocative and poignant without excess frillery. The similes and metaphors were so inventive and I was reminded a little of Maggie Stiefvater or Laini Taylor, two authors whose prose I love. While I did sometimes find it confusing to differentiate the flashbacks from the present, the brief use of the future tense near the end worked excellently. There was a sense of foreboding and quiet sadness, an unwillingness to pull away despite knowledge of the inevitable. Perfect for a bittersweet ending.

'The Black Kids' is definitely a recommended read. Captivating, inspiring, eye-opening and unforgettable. Also this cover design itself deserves a full star!

What an incredible and powerful book The Black Kids is.

Not only was this an enjoyable, coming of age read, it also showed police brutality and systemic racism within the US. Growing up in the UK in the 90s, I never knew or was taught of the Rodney King attack. Though it is in no way for black people to teach me about these things, I ultimately did learn and it enabled me to do my own research. It almost felt that this book could have set in 2020, given everything that has recently happened.

I loved the author's writing and look forward to reading more of their work.

4.5 stars

Reading this book knowing it's historical fiction feels like a punch in the gut because it's 2020 and so many things are the same if not worse. I don't live in the US and we don't really learn any history past right after WW2 in our schools so I had to google the events of the Rodney King Riots to have an idea about the events going on during this novel.

I think what this book does and how it does it is very clever and I really liked seeing the perspective of what's basically slice of life while a major and violent event is happening in your town (just maybe not exactly in your district). Different country, very different circumstances, and I wasn't old enough to really grasp everything that was going on, but I lived through a massive event that shook my city while kind of living my life in a somewhat normal way. But I still remember the constant noise of the helicopters that never left our skies for 2-3 days, and when Ashley, the protagonist of this book, noted the same happened during the Riots, I was instantly taken back to that uneasy feeling.

Ashley is a Black teen with white friends and a quite privileged life. I can't know what that's like, but reading through her perspective I think her development was strongly portrayed while avoiding a single big realization moment in which she suddenly understands her privilege and all the ways in which she's not. You can see she's aware of it, or some of it, throughout the novel, but that it's also easier for her to close an eye to it sometimes, and I don't think anyone can blame her. Her development is just as much in her as in the eyes of the reader, as she opens up more about her life and her mistakes we also see all her depth.

I think the way this story is written was the best way for this kind of novel. When I said slice of life earlier in my review I do mean it, but I don't mean it's a superficial story at all: there's a lot of anecdotes about Ashley herself, her friends, her family, Lucia, that truly make each character and relationship come alive. Slowly at first, and I admit it wasn't easy to pick up this book again after putting it down for the first 30% of it, but the middle section was more dynamic and I almost couldn't put it down. The pace slowed down again in the last 15% and I understand why this was necessary but it's also the reason I can't give it a full 5 stars.

Being white, living in another continent and at a different time, I can't say I can understand the full depth of this novel, but I found it incredibly well-written and important nonetheless. I highly recommend checking it out and doing some basic research about the Rodney King Riots if you don't know about them, because they are in the background throughout the novel and it will be expected for you to at least have googled it.

TWs: police brutality, racism, racist slurs, mention of attempted suicide, mention of a queer person at the last stages of AIDS, recreational drugs, alcohol, cheating

Oh man, this was SO GOOD. First of all, I absolutely adored Ashley’s character. She is just so real and flawed. Reed’s writing is also very authentic and there some stunning moments/quotes throughout that I can’t get out of my head.

I learned a lot about what went on in LA following the beating of Rodney King, and the choice to place this novel in this time and place worked perfectly for the story and characters. I can’t wait to see what Reed comes out with next. I wholeheartedly recommend this for fans of Angie Thomas and Nic Stone.

**Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing an e-arc in exchange for an honest review!**

4.5

This book was an incredible, hard hitting look at racism in black communities in America during the Rodney King riots.

So much of what the characters went through were things I had never even thought of and it was a real eye opener.

Absolutely an important book that I'll be asking everyone to read, so well written, it compells you to read on.

The Black Kids is a coming-of-age debut novel by Christina Hammonds Reed which explores race, class, and violence as well as the importance of being true to yourself.

One of the reviews I read of this book stated that ‘it should be essential reading for the classroom’ and I definitely agree with that statement. It is set during the 1992 LA uprisings which I shamefully had to research whilst reading the book. What I hadn’t realised is that in 1992, there was uproar in LA after a trial jury acquitted four officers of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) for using excessive force in the arrest and beating of Rodney King, which had been videotaped and widely viewed in TV broadcasts. I found it extremely moving that it is evidently clear that history always seems to repeat itself, especially when it comes to racism and inequality.

Throughout the book, we follow the life of Ashley Bennet in the midst of the riots. I really liked the character but she came across very weak and tried to please everyone, which we know never works. I found it interesting that Ashley doesn’t feel like she can relate to the other black students or other black people int the community because of her families wealth and her upbringing. Christina Hammonds Reed does a great job of helping readers to understand that everyone is different. Not all white people are the same, and neither are all black people.

I also think that the author does a great job of exploring how it is sometimes difficult for young people to fully understand what is happening in the news. Once you are a certain age, are you expected to hold your own opinion of events or do you just turn a blind eye and leave it for the adult to sort out.

There are a lot of contrasts within this story and I really enjoyed these clever little moments. Overall, the main story really hit home as only a few months ago, we were protesting and rioting about a similar event in America. I think it is important to educate people on events like this because they are always sadly reoccurring.

The Black Kids is one of those books that will hurt you while reading because it's about a social and political climate from decades ago, yet it is absolutely, exactly, one hundred percent so creepily accurately and current like our situation today that it is baffling and painful to think about.
The Black Kids is written about the time that white police officers get acquitted for beating a black man named Rodney King nearly to death. With no punishment, no remorse, these officers can go back to their job while King's life hangs in the balance.
Sounds familiar, doesn't it?
Honestly, this book explores so much about race and racism and violence and privilege and all of those topics are so important and I hope that this book will be discussed in schools and that everyone will pick it up.
But the most cruel thing to come out of reading this is how nothing has changed in almost three decades.
It's horrifying. It angers me. It makes me want to pick up a pitchfork and rage against the entire world.
But I also think that this is an empowering story, about learning that your voice is valid, that it needs to be heard and that we have to change.things.right.the.fuck.now.
We keep saying that Black Lives Matter but stories like these show that we're not doing enough, that we will never have done enough until true equality exists. Until we are all treated equal.
And we have a long fucking way to go.
But yes. This book needs to be mandatory reading material, no doubt about it.

April 1992. Ashley Bennett and her friends are seniors, their greatest worries being what they want to do after they graduation high school and if they can get away with ditching off school. They live a privileged life, live in big homes in good neighbourhoods, go to a fancy school and have every luxury at their finger tips. Until the day 4 LAPD cops are acquitted for beating Rodney King, a Black man, to death. Suddenly LA is in the midst of a riot and Ashley's life is turned upside down. Used to being the only Black girl in her group of friends and ignoring subtle racism from them, Ashley is forced to confront her life and identity as a Black woman and in doing so also learns more about the lives of others around her like her family history and the other Black kids at school,

It's wild that this book is set in 1992 and yet almost 30 years later in 2020 these events and themes are so relevant now. It's poignant and disgraceful to think that you could easily read this book without any of the historical context and you could so easily believe that this was set in 2020. Ashley is an interesting protagonist, I feel like I never really got to know Ashley properly, even when she's thinking to herself, she seemed distant, but considering the fact this novel is about Ashley self-reflecting on her place in the world, I thought it worked well this way. Ashley isn't even sure who she is or who she wants to be. The book covers a lot of issues: systematic racism, casual racism, privilege, generational trauma, family secrets, mental health. Despite her sheltered upbringing, Ashley knows that as a Black person, she needs to work twice as hard in life to be respected and has to be perfect, because how she acts in public isn't just a reflection on herself or her family but for all Black people. Having a comfortable lifestyle, she's faces that her reality isn't the same for other Black people she knows, most notably we see this when it comes to LaShawn, how quick she is to judge him (the same way she has been judged herself for being Black) and when she goes to his house and sees how different his life is compared to hers. The book jumps around a bit in plotline, which I didn't mind too much but sometimes a character would start reacting to something that hadn't even happened yet, that was explained in the next sentences and it kinda threw me off as I kept thinking I had missed something before that. Some of the side characters like Lana seemed under utilised, I wanted to see more of Ashley's relationship with her. Like I said before, this book is set in 1992 and I thought the it was really well done, the references were on point. Sometimes with historical fiction you can be bombarded with reference points but it was nicely done here. A strong contemporary must read YA novel.

This was interesting in terms of the character and how it presented the story. There were a handful of factors that just did not work for me and i felt that at time the characters were just a little bit underdeveloped. The action and writing was good but i just think that there was something missing from it overall that brought my rating down. The premise is important and the topic is handled well but this just needs another edit for it to be there completely for me.

The Black Kids is an emotional, and powerful read that makes you want to learn more of those times, This was a wonderful story. I'd definitely recommend. I can't wait to see future books from this author.

"Sometimes people, they see your skin, and all they know of you is war."

First things first, as far as I'm concerned Christina Hammonds Reed is right up there with Elizabeth Acevedo at the top of my list of YA writers because of the beauty of her prose. There were times when I had to reread passages because of how evocative they were and realised I was holding my breath. This is a WRITER.

Ashley Bennett hails from a wealthy and prominent family of "good" Black people in Los Angeles, 1992 (think: a Banks/Greenleaf family hybrid). Ash's end of high school reverie of bunking and beach days is interrupted when four police officers are acquitted after viciously beating an unarmed Black man named Rodney King, despite clear video footage. As city-wide protests and riots engulf LA, Ash is forced to confront the life she lives and the smaller dissents being waged closer to home. Whether considering the global context of anti-racism protests & police brutality, or the situation faced by our young people in the UK this week, to say this is timely is an understatement.

The idea of "the talk" reverberates throughout the novel as Ash navigates her Blackness and her personal response to the protests. Even though her parents have prepared her for society's demonisation of Blackness (as many of our parents have), their desire for her to have a "better" life leaves her disconnected, vulnerable and disadvantaged in many other ways. I loved the exploration of Ash's all-white friendship group, the words she allows them to use, and the ways she has altered herself to fit in.

I also don't think it's coincidental that I'm seeing the ripples of Tulsa across the books & TV I've been engaging with recently. Every new haunting echo forces me to wrestle again with the notion that a people can carry the physical and psychological scars of trauma in their genetic code and what this might mean for each new generation.

Though at first Ashley might be a difficult protagonist to sympathise with because of her friends, her lifestyle and initial apathy to the protests, her perspective is valid and I loved that as her self awareness and the language to express herself grows, the message that comes through in THE BLACK KIDS is that there's no one way to be a Black girl.

An incredible coming-of-age story, filled with layer after layer. The whole read was compelling and featured sisterhood, privilege and identity. A powerful must read.

Trigger warnings: police brutality, racism, abuse.

In the height of the Black Lives Matter protests that we saw happen in June this year I pledged to read more books by black authors and help uplift black voices. So, as soon as I found out about The Black Kids I knew I had to read it. This was such an eye-opening read about racism and discrimination which is still happening today.

The Black Kids follows black teenager, Ashley Bennett, who attends a top school in L.A and is close to finishing her senior year. When four police officers are acquitted after beating a black man, Rodney King near to death, Ashley is no longer just one of the girls, she’s one of the black kids. As violent and destructive protests start happening across L.A, Ashley starts to question her life as a young black woman and how she can find her place in this world.

Wow! The Black Kids was such a powerful read all about prejudice, racial tension and class and really does open your eyes and make you think. I was honestly blown away by it and couldn’t stop reading. Despite this book taking place in 1992, I feel that the themes discussed are certainly relevant to what is going on today, especially regarding the death of George Floyd and the black lives matter protests. Also, prior to reading this book, I knew next to nothing about Rodney King or the protests surrounding it, but that all changed after I read The Black Kids. I found myself finding out more about it through both the book and my own research and was honestly shocked with what I found out, especially with regards to how this is still happening today, almost 30 years later.

The way the protests and riots are set against the backdrop of Ashley’s story was both fascinating and compelling. As this is a coming of age story we see how Ashley starts to realise how her race affects her, compared to her white friends. She’s uncomfortable with their casual racism towards her but doesn’t let it show. However, as we journey further into the book we see her change the way she perceives it, and she starts to understand more about the discrimination that she was almost sheltered from, having come from a wealthy family. Ashley had such a realistic, distinctive voice, and yes although she had flaws, we see her grow as a person throughout the book and come out stronger.

I found Ashley’s relationships with her friends to each have their own unique twist. I particularly loved her blossoming friendship with LaShawn, who I feel helped Ashley on her road to self-discovery. Also, her friendship with Lana, I found also helped her develop and realise that she could have friendships that worked equally. With regards to her friendship with Kimberley, I hated the way Kimberley treated her and her casual racism towards Ashley was hurtful. I was glad that Ashley started to realise this, and made an effort to move on from it.

The Black Kids was such an influential, important read that everyone should read. It will educate you on issues that you may not have much knowledge of and will also help you understand the struggles that black people still face today.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book would have been brilliant and hard hitting at any time. But reading it now, so soon after George Floyd’s death and with Black Lives Matter being so prominent in the media, I really felt this book. It bought to the forefront of my mind the struggles that Black people have faced and still face. This book is set in 1992, but it didn’t feel very far from home at all. Aside from a few pop culture references (which I loved!), the experiences Ashley faces feel like they could happen, and are still happening today, almost 30 years on.

Ashley lives a charmed life, attending a private school and being somewhat sheltered and surrounded by white friends, openly not interacting much with her fellow Black classmates. Her sister, Jo, who has married and moved out, is far from this. When the Rodney King riots occur, Ashley is forced to open her eyes to what is going on around her, especially when her sister starts getting involved.

This book is shocking, giving a first hand of experience of a wealthy family who are still deeply shook by the riots. Their stories shook me to the core. The discussions of race and class were superb and brilliantly written, as it feels like Ashley is only just realising herself what is truly happening around her. The starkness of this book is impressive, comparing an early event of Ashley and her white friends being stopped for breaking and entering, to a later event of Ashley and her Black friend being held at gunpoint because they are believed to be breaking and entering their own house. The Black Kids has grown on reflection to be even more hard hitting than you initially realise, as you are seeing it through the eyes of a teenager learning and growing.

The relationships were beautiful and important. I loved reading about the difficult relationships between Ashley, her family and her sister, Jo. The different characters all added layers to the story themselves, especially Ashley’s friendship group and the people she finds throughout the story, including the other Black kids at her school.

The only part of this book that really disappointed me was that it just didn’t grab me enough at the start. I spent the first 50 percent of the book feeling like I was wading through water, slow and muggy. On reflection, I realise this is due to the fact Ashley herself felt like she was perhaps disentangled from what was going on around her, and is a stark contrast to the second half of the book, when everything is almost turned up in sharpness. It took me 3 days to read the first 50 percent, and only one to read the rest. I just wish it had grabbed me more from the start!

This intense and hard hitting read feels relevant even today, discussing themes such as police brutality and race and class divide through the eyes of a young, coming-of-age teen. It is a stark, raw and beautiful story of growth and change, a change I can only hope continues as we look forward to a brighter future.

★★★★
4 out of 5 stars

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽