Ashley Bennett has lived a life of privilege. She has grown up in a wealthy neighborhood of Los Angeles, she has attended elite schools, and is awaiting her acceptance into Stanford any day now. However, Ashley's world begins to crack in the wake of the Rodney King trial. Suddenly, micro-aggressions she has been dealing with her whole life seem to be occurring more and more. Ashley questions the authenticity of her relationships with those around her. Will her life ever go back to the way it was? Does she even want it to?
Christina Hammonds Reed has masterfully woven a tale of historically significant moment that is relevant to today's social justice movement. By writing the BIPOC main character as coming from a wealthy family, it forces the reader to see the contrast in wealth disparity and racial bias. Reed shows Ashley's struggle with her feelings about her privilege. These additions give readers the opportunity to acknowledge their own privileges and biases. The Black Kids is great read for teens and adults.

I really liked the character development in this book, and the authentic relationships. The setting is unique, I don’t think I’ve seen any other YA fiction relating to the Rodney King riots, and it gives some much needed context to the discussions around the current Black Lives Matter movement for young people who are looking to know more about social justice.

This is a powerful story that brings to light many issues faced by Black Americans. The main character feels detached from the story, but the author's writing makes up for this lack of connection. I look forward to getting this title into my classroom.

The Black Kids by Christina Hammonds Reed presents tough topics (race, violence, wealth) in an accessible way for a YA audience. With the addition of common YA plot lines, this book kept me intrigued and invested in the journey of Ashley. I would highly recommend this book for anyone who loved "The Hate U Give"!

I think this book is a perfect read for what is going on in the world today and also it educates us how little things have changed.It serves as a reference on why black live matter and why we should all express empathy and grace for African Americans and their struggle to live freely without being abused or killed.

With "The Black Kids," Christina Hammonds Reed crafts a realistic view of LA during the time of the Rodney King beating and the LA Riots. This YA novel features a black teenager, Ashley, that grew up in a wealthy neighborhood as she comes face-to-face with issues of race and class.

“I wonder if growing up in a war zone disarms you so you can't even tell why your heart races, just the constant awareness that it does.”

This debut novel by Christina Hammonds Reed takes you back to 1992 during the Rodney King riots. It is Ashley Bennet’s senior year of high school, and the biggest concerns in her sheltered life revolve around getting into Stanford and hanging out with friends. All of this changes, however, when the Rodney King verdict is delivered and when Ashley accidentally starts a rumor about a fellow classmate that leaves him suspended from school. After realizing her mistake, Ashley is determined to fix her mistake. During Ashley’s quest for forgiveness, she starts spending more time with those outside her social circle and begins to learn more about oppression, race, socio-economic privilege, and what it means to be black in America.

Despite the heavy issues that are addressed in this novel, Reed successfully intertwines the complexities of being a teenager throughout the story. Instead of sugar coating serious issues, Reed challenges readers with her thought provoking tone and relatable characters. While I thoroughly enjoyed this story, Ashley’s “friends” were far from likeable. Of course, while I disliked how they talked to one another, it would have been difficult to showcase how Ashley was before the Rodney King trial. Their relationship brought clarity to the lifestyle that Ashley was accustomed to, and it helped to understand the importance of Ashley’s journey of self-discovery.

This story reads like contemporary fiction, and if it weren’t for the Rodney King trial, you almost forget that this took place in the 90’s. That, in itself, speaks volumes for the progress of our nation. Reed hits you with the truth and further reinforces issues that are still prevalent to this day; despite its fictional nature, The Black Kids is seemingly a call to action piece that is meant to incite change and challenge what we have come to consider as the status quo.

I decided not to read this book because I was reviewing it for a 2020 reading list & I didn’t read it in time. I will still be purchasing it for my library based on reviews.

When I saw that The Black Kids takes place during the Rodney King riots in '92, I knew this book was going to absolutely hurt. In fact, reading The Black Kids brought back all of the feelings I had when learning about the King beatings in high school. That case of police brutality is probably one of the main things that stuck with me after graduating. & unfortunately, that is probably due to the fact that these things continue to happen even in 2020.

The Black Kids, although taking place in a different decade, remains timely. Not only because of the police brutality aspect, but also the general themes of racism. One of my favorite parts about The Black Kids is that we're getting this story from the viewpoint of a Black character who's pretty well off; her parents attempting to give her the life they didn't have growing up. A majority of Ashley's friends are white & she seems to be fitting in -- that is until the riots happen, and they start to see her as "one of the black kids."

Her being black is referenced a few times by her friends -- such as when the group gets stopped by a cop. We also hear them use the n-word, which Ashley states out loud that it's okay, but internally realizes it's definitely not okay. This perspective of a person who stays silent about what hurts & what doesn't hurt, while hanging out with people who could never relate to how she's doing is honestly very eye-opening.

Obviously, considering the subject matter, The Black Kids isn't the easiest read & I'm not rating it a four-stars based on entertainment -- I definitely did not have a good time, but instead, on the fact that I find it to be an extremely important read.

This one is a book to be remembered! It so powerful yet so beautifully written. I wish I could forget this book to read like a first time.

The Black Kids
By Christina Hammonds Reed

This book really resonated with me, because just as Ashley, I too was a high schooler in the 90's in Los Angeles that lived through the Rodney King riots. Just like Ashley, I was in an elite private high school in Los Angeles with a majority of my classmates wealthy kids, children of Hollywood elites. The Black Kids is a sotry set in 1992 entered around our main character, Ashley Bennett who lives a privileged life in a bubble in her mostly white Private high School. Little did she feel about her skin color until what happened to Rodney King which leads to a turning point in her life and her paying more attention to herself and her relation to the society she lives in.

I found the writing beautiful and a great coming-of-age story. This book's themes really was heartbreaking and it is a wonderful story about identity, fighting for what we believe in, and racism - which after all this time still hasn't changed all that much.

I hope you pick this up - this book is really a must read that will resonate with many.

I really liked this one and will be recommending it for my WSRA committee review, as well as to put in classrooms and school libraries.

I enjoyed reading this book. I thought the stream or consciousness narration was interesting, if a bit hard to follow at some points. This book feels very timely in the light of all of the protests going on this year, and it just shows how much further we have to go, and how we haven’t made as much progress as people would hope.

The Black Kids is a timely read that spares no emotional punches. Ashley is a sassy, funny, rich girl who has always attended private school with her rich white friends. She doesn’t know exactly what reality less fortunate black people actually live through day in and day out. Sure, she sometimes has dealt with racism, if even subtle by her own friends, but she’s never had to live in dire circumstances like her own cousins. But when the Rodney King riots set the city of Los Angeles ablaze, Ashley can no longer ignore the flames of injustice. For the first time in her life, she has to confront her past, what it means to be a black girl, and figure out who her true friends are. I enjoyed this book because Ashley’s POV was no only blunt but hella funny. I like that Ashley’s character isn’t free of faults, she does some pretty questionable things within the course of the novel but ultimately she tries to make amends where she can and where it counts.

I don’t know if the author has intentions of writing a sequel, but I wouldn’t be against one. Especially if we were to get a book written in LaShawn’s POV (he’s a secondary character in the novel, a black kid who attends the rich kids’ private school because of his sports scholarship). Out of all the characters in the book, he was ultimately the star (much to Ashley’s dismay, since in the beginning of the novel she kinda resents the fact that he’s both smart and charismatic and is going to her dream college).

Pick up this book for timely issues and 90’s nostalgia, you won’t be disappointed.

*Thank you so much to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers for the digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I believe this book was made for me to read. And anyone that was a teen in the 90s. And anyone who is a teen now! What a great story about racism, fitting in, and choices make when you’re a teen. Hand to students who enjoyed The Hate You Give, Dear Martin, and The Serpent King.

In my classroom, The Black Kids by Christina Hammonds Reed would likely be put into a historical fiction bin, even though the struggles the main characters face feel disturbingly relevant in 2020. The story is gritty, filled with the pain of racism and the problems of growing up. I found the writing beautifully done, better than anything I've found in recent months. However, the language (the repeated use of the n-word especially) was tough to read. Many of the themes in the story are incredibly mature and would be triggering for my students. I would have a hard time handing this book to the majority of them.

This book was layered and often a rich perspective about the nuanced experiences of Black girls during the LA Rebellion. I highly recommend this text whenever I talk to young people, and older folks alike. There were so many layers to the story, while also introducing historical accuracy.

The Black Kids is a phenomenal debut featuring nuanced conversations about race, class, and privilege. Providing no easy answers, The Black Kids manages to balance a character development and introspection with writing that stops you in your tracks. There were some lines that I had to pause at because they were both insightful and emotional. It's a book that examines our own internalized racism, the comments we don't confront, and our own privilege.

There are no simple characters in The Black Kids. They are allowed to be as flawed, wrong, and brave on the page. While the The Black Kids unfolds slowly, reading it felt like witnessing an avalanche. You can see the pebbles falling, their absence growing, the crawling turning point in motion. Because waking up, realizing the systems of racism and classicism we may have been wading in, can be a slow process. It's not just an abrupt moment like waking up from a nightmare.

Really love this book. Love the setting and the time period. It was so easy to imagine. Would love to see it as a movie.

For some reason I didn’t realize when I picked this up that it was set in the 90s, so at first I was a little confused as to why a contemporary was referencing so many 90s things—that’s what I get for not reading the blurb!

This book is I think a really great rep for anyone who loved Burn Baby Burn or even Elizabeth Acevedo’s work. It was very compelling and a propelling read.