This is a fantastic book. It takes place in the early 90s during the Rodney King riots and follows Ashley, a black girl in her senior year of high school. It tackles issues that parallel our world 30 years later. A definite must read.

The Black Kids by Christina Hammonds Reed is a young adult novel set in the 90's during the protests that ensued after the Rodney King verdict. It is a compelling and unflinching look at race and police brutality. The main character, Ashley is a wealthy black senior in high school. She goes to school with primarily white students. The main character Ashley tries to ignore the protests that are going on in her city, she is privileged and naïve but grows through out the book. This book covers identity, systemic racism, and privilege. Highly recommended and timely read.

Most defining book containing the most impactful moment in Black American History. This book is set in 1992 in an expensive LA neighborhood during the Rodney King riots. The story is told by a young African American girl, living in a upper class neighborhood. She goes to a school that lacks much diversity. Her parents have sheltered her and her sister (as we parents tend to do). The books starts out with the riots on TV after the Rodney King beating and trial. Ashley acknowledges that she should care but she doesn't. The Black kids deals with many issues such as racism, police brutality, racial tensions, etc. Thanks to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for the ebook.

The Black Kids absolutely stunned me. It is a fierce story about the power of youth, the realities of living in a racist, classist society, and the people and communities that fight for equality and change. I'd recommend this to pretty much anyone. Christina Hammonds Reed does an amazing job of developing characters the reader is rooting for and also have their own struggles and make their own mistakes. I loved The Black Kids and am grateful to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me this advance e-arc!

Definitely relevant for today’s readers. Made me think back to that horrible time and realize nothing has truly changed. Read this in one sitting. This would be a great book for teaching in history and ELA classes…a strong #ownvoices story.

I read 25% of this book before choosing to DNF. While I was excited for a story that covers an important subject, the voice and characters aren’t catching me. (And the only reason I understood anything about the story direction in the first 24% was the blurb; it was unclear from the text itself, which felt aimless — though it suddenly became more apparent at 25%). I’m glad this book is out there, though, and hope it will find the right audience!

I had high hopes for this book and was really disappointed. The storyline had so much potential and it just fell short. I was hoping this would have been a great addition to my upper MS collection but the amount of foul language, drug use and sex and lack of quality content does not justify it.

A timely and poignant read! I found the characters to be engaging and genuine, although the story was a bit slow to begin with, I couldn't put it down once I read through the first few chapters. The setting is in L.A., amidst the 1992 Rodney King riots. An eye-opening, captivating, and thought-provoking read for fans of realistic YA fiction.

Thank you to NetGalley, Christina Hammonds Reed, and Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing for an advanced eBook in exchange for my honest review.

I had some issues with this book. One that the mc was not very likeable. I dont need an mc to be likeable but I just wasn't very interested in her story. Side characters im the book were way more intriguing to me. Also I didnt like that this was called the Black Kids and the only reason the mc engaged with the "Black kids" at her school is because she did something bad to one of her white friends. It she had never did that thing she would have been content never talking to anyone Black at that school and continuing to let those white friends say racist things to her. And the mc did some anti-black stuff that should have had the black kids turn their backs on her rather than befriend her. I guess I just didn't understand the point of this book. I know im not the target audience but this was set in 92 and I was like 12 then and I still couldn't connect to this story. Way too much pop culture included to make this feel like 92 and it really didn't.

The Black Kids by Christina Hammonds Reed has one of my favorite book covers of 2020. As shallow as it sounds, I just knew I had to read this book. Frankly, I am SO glad I picked it up. The Black Kids is an insightful historical fiction book about a Black girl who is coming of age during the Rodney King riots in 1992. Reed’s debut is excellent and I am looking forward to reading whatever else she releases during what is sure to be a bright career.

Ashley Bennett is about to graduate high school. She is in AP classes. Ashley lives in a good neighborhood and her parents have great jobs. She goes to an expensive private school. Ashley is Black, popular, a cheerleader, and her best friends are white. Things seem fine, except that Rodney King has just been attacked brutally by the police on video. The trial is happening as are riots happening throughout LA. People are on edge. Ashley discovers that her white friends don’t really have her back or understand. We see the microaggressions that she endures. And well, Ashley’s perspective is different – she’s well off. Still, that doesn’t protect her from experiencing the microaggressions and overt aggression from her so-called friends.

I really genuinely loved The Black Kids. Not because Reed’s debut is easy to read or feel good. I thought this book was authentic. Ashley is a flawed person — she’s allowed to be three dimensional and real. Also, this book is so unique. It is historical fiction that is not set during Slavery or the 1950s-60s Civil Rights era. I’ve never read a book that had the Rodney King riots as part of the historical era setting. It was a really excellent framing device. We also see intergenerational trauma where another piece of history is discussed.

The Black Kids is a must read, must have on the shelves for young adults. Although Ashley makes the mistakes of youth, you can’t help but root for her. There’s so much depth within The Black Kids, a lot to discuss and explore. Add this book to your TBR immediately.

This story does a beautiful job of depicting the battle between who people think you are or want you to be and who you truly are. While Ashley’s issues come as a result of her race most teenagers, and people in general can relate to trying to find your own identity.

Ashley is a Black teenager dealing with racism, classism, identity, police brutality, and being a high schooler. As the Rodney King riots engulf LA in 1992 Ashley is trying to work out how to feel, and where she fits. She’s thrown into some situations that force her to look at issues and behavior she often tries not to think too hard about.

This book tore me open, but in the best possible way. It gave me a look into a different time and place and reality other than my own. It was so beautifully written, and even though these subjects are difficult, you won’t want to put this book down. Reed really knows how to transport you—you’ll smell the smoke in the air one minute, and feel the freedom of jumping on the trampoline the next.

If you haven’t read this one already, I highly recommend you do.

I struggled with my review for this book. The subject matter is timely, and the history woven into the plot is gut-wrenching (especially considering where we're at thirty years later), but I had a hard time clicking with the passive main character. It's a book to start discussions, and certainly a book to educate, but seeing the '92 LA riots through Ashley's eyes was difficult. She was almost clinical with her descriptions, even of her family, going so far as to include historical facts in the narrative. However, even though I struggled with her as the narrator, I raced through this book, and found myself going back and researching everything surrounding Rodney King as I listened. The stream of consciousness format of this book translated well over audiobook, and that's definitely what I'd recommend.

I will be requiring this book for summer reading THIS summer.

It was so amazing and I kept thinking how relevant it feels right now in the wake of the BLM movement and everything that the past few years have brought. Also, Ashley’s voice is so amazingly, achingly authentic. She reads like a real teenager and I think she will engage students so much more than most. I absolutely loved this book.

“Sometimes there is an us, sometimes there is a them, and sometimes it’s okay to be a we.”

It was powerful to learn about L.A. during the Rodney King riots through Ashley’s perspective as she went through a dramatic learning curve. I loved seeing how she grew and changed as the world around her seemed to be falling apart - from her sister and her family’s issues to growing apart from her childhood friends to questioning herself and choices she makes.

First of all this book is amazing. What a perfect read. I am a 90’s teen and I related to a lot of the cultural and social movements within the book. It put my emotions through it!! the difference between Ashley and I is the color of our skin, our culture and ethnicity. While reading I frequently analyzed my self at this age and honestly I don’t think I could have dealt with all that Ashley endured. As a teen, I think we all wanted to fit in! I know I did. Ashley is trying to navigate a city in turmoil during the Rodney King riots of 1992.

This story is definitely a coming of age in a difficult time but it’s also about feeling removed from your own culture and history as the black girl amongst all white friends. These white friends were blatantly racist in front of Ashley and I was proud as the book progressed to see Ashley find her place in the world. I appreciated the way the author addressed important issue like family relationships and dynamics, race and racism, and how it all ties into socioeconomic status, gender, and stereotyping.

Overall this was a great book in my opinion and I wish that every teen could read it because many of the issues presented here are very relevant today.

Thank you @simonteen and @christinahammondsreed for my digital copy of the book to review.

When I heard that Christina Hammonds Reed was writing a book about being a Black kid in the '90s in Los Angeles, I jumped at the chance to read this book. I grew up 20-30ish minutes outside of what some would call "LA proper" in the city of Downey, but worked in LA for most of my adult life. So I knew this book would be extremely nostalgic. I was only three when the Rodney King Riots erupted throughout LA so I don't remember much. We were not extremely close to the riots but my mom remembers vividly the things she saw. Christina Hammonds Reed is an LA native so I love that she included things like earthquake drills and fire season.

The amazing thing about this book is that even though it's about what happened in the '90s, it honestly feels like it is happening today. The way she talks about the way the rioters, looters, and protesters are portrayed and how the media makes them out to be monsters and animals. "The media and the politicians keep stereotyping everyone who was out during the riots as"savage" or "lawless" or "hooligans" or "thugs," an "underclass" not representative of the "real America."(Reed) The thing is, that is the real America. There are people today who are not looting who are fighting for justice and peacefully protesting and being met with intense force, tear gas, rubber bullets, and now we have federal agents coming in and kidnapping people. All at the Presidents orders. We just want justice. We want things to change. Real change.

This book tackles a lot of themes. Ultimately, it's a coming of age story but it deals with racism and race, class, family pressure, the distance between two people, painful family history, and the push and pull of teenage and female friendships. But there were three that really hit me on a personal level: Finding your identity in a sea of whiteness, being Black in America in the midst of a riot or civil unrest, and existing in the in between: not feeling "Black" enough to fit in with the Black kids while not actually being white so not truly fitting in with that crowd.

I didn't grow up in a predominately Black neighborhood and I didn't have a lot of Black friends growing up so as I grew up it felt really hard to discover parts of my identity when not many people around looked like me. This is the same thing that our main character Ashley is facing. She goes to a very white prep school and has all white friends. There are a group of Black kids in her school but she doesn't interact with them at all. Throughout the whole book Ashley straddles the line between trying to fit in with her white friends who never let her forget she is Black and say some VERY inappropriate things. I'll just say her friends are racist and they suck. But at the same time Ashley watches this group of Black kids from a far always thinking that she wont fit in with them. She feels very disconnected from them and almost "others" them. Her friends have made her feel that since she grew up in a good neighborhood, her family has money, she doesn't have any Black friends, and doesn't "act Black" (my least favorite term) that she is not actually "Black" or as her friends remind her that she is not "Blackety Black," which is extremely offensive. But when you're sheltered all your life and told these things you wouldn't know what else to believe so I feel for Ashley to be honest. I've been called an Oreo multiple times in my life and have also been told that I'm "not really Black," which I've always hated. But throughout the book Ashley starts understanding her family history more, spending more time with the Black kids at her school and people outside her white friend group, trying to reconnect with her activist sister, trying to understand the Rodney King riots, and from experiencing her own run in with the police, that at the end of the day her class does not separate her from her Blackness because unfortunately her Blackness is what the world sees first.

The Rodney King Riots are probably the first time Ashley has every experienced anything like that. So being Black during a time like that where there is a collective anger among the Black community is another layer that Ashely has to figure out. She has to figure out how she feels about all of it and if she wants to take a stand against it and if so, what lane she can make the most change. In the beginning, we know that Ashley feels like what is happening is wrong but at the same time she is so wrapped up in her little bubble that she doesn't realize there is actually a bigger issue that just Rodney King. And throughout the novel Ashley has to come to terms with this. Her sister Jo is on the front lines fighting for justice and Ashley is clearly scared for her and often times there was a lot of tension within her family because of the stance that Jo was taking because she knows that her sister is not the type of person the media was portraying the rioters to be. Through her sister, Ashley really starts to dig deeper and look past all the rioting and looting to start looking at the deeper issue and realizes that" maybe the problem isn't only the "bad" people; maybe the problem is with the whole system."

There are so many things I could say about this book and honestly I'm still getting my thoughts together. There are so many good quotes and Christina Hammond Reeds writing is almost lyrical and the imagery she puts forth is magical. I highlighted and tabbed a lot of quotes and passages. This book is timely and important. This book feels deeply personal because I know what it feels like to be an Ashley.

I really enjoyed this one. Having grown up during this time and remembering the riots it was a very interesting point of view to have

Purchased this YA/middle grade novel for my middle school library. Superb character development, elegant world building, and compelling plotting.

I received a complimentary copy of the book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Ashley is one of the few wealthy black kids in her school, but is generally accepted by the school population. One day, four police officers are aquitted of killing a black man, Rodney King, in the summer of 1992, As a result, riots protesting the court decision affects the streets of downtown Los Angeles. Suddenly, Ashley is considered one of the black kids. I loved how this historical fiction was reminiscent of today's struggles, yet thouroughly transports you back to the time of these riots. Excellent work by this author. Important message as well. #netgalley #theBlackKids #christinahammondsreed