I haven't lived through the Rodney King Riots, but The Black Kids painted a full picture for me. This story not only tells the full experience of what living in 1992 was like, but it also gives the perspective of what being Black in 1992 was like. Police violence was just as prevalent then as it is now, giving a great parallel to the Black Lives Matter movement today. And the best part of this book was that Ashley wasn't an all-knowing narrator -- she was just a teenager still making teenager mistakes, and I loved her more for that. Reed did teens like Ashley justice and her voice will be remembered for years to come.

Christina Hammonds Reed’s The Black Kids has a cover that serves as a metaphor for what lies within the book. On it is pictured the book’s protagonist Ashley Bennett, eyes covered with shades reflecting California’s famous palm trees. A close look reveals that some of the tops of those lovely trees are aflame; a gesture to the April 1992 uprisings that followed a not guilty verdict for police beating of Rodney King.

In a time when people are protesting for Black Lives Matter and championing the rights of all disenfranchised people, King’s violent beating may seem like ancient history. In this book, Reed centers this time period, her page-turning narrative that explores assimilation, interracial friendship, and class.

In The Black Kids, Ashley’s friendship circle is composed of white girls at her Beverly Hills private high school. She has a better relationship with her nanny, Lucia, than she does with her mother. Her older sister, Jo, has essentially been disowned from the family for marrying a white guy. Jo’s relationship with her husband, Harrison, gives Reed an opportunity to showcase how fraught Ashley’s relationship is to following the spoken and unspoken codes of Blackness.

The Black Kids underscores the overarching challenges that come with assimilating in a predominantly white institution or school and ways to resist losing oneself while also trying to fit in.

At school, there are Ashley’s group of friends and then there are the eponymous Black kids who sit together, who seem to scowl at her from across the cafeteria. Ashley’s hypervisibility as a Black girl with majority white friends leads her to question her identity. Her desire to be accepted by the Black kids is one of the dominant narratives in the book that interrogates stereotypes and microaggressions against the backdrop of one of Los Angeles most contentious periods. In one part of the book, Ashley recalls in one part of the book a moment when her best friend Kimberly informed her that Black girls couldn’t be mermaids in an attempt to leave her out of playtime with some other friends. At that point, Ashley muses, “It hadn’t even occurred to me yet that there was anything I couldn’t be, and the shame of the moment dug itself into my chest so deep that I couldn’t breathe.”

The result is an introspective, sometimes harrowing read. Ashley makes bad choices like when she makes out with her friend’s boyfriend, but she has both a conscience and a great sense of humor. Aside from her wit, part of what makes her endearing, too, is her candor about the confusion that comes with being who she is: “I can’t tell if loneliness is being Black, or being young, or being a girl.”

Ashley has the typical teenage girl concerns: how to keep up with her three best friends; how to stop crushing on Kimberly’s boyfriend, Michael, when he keeps flirting with her; and what to do about the unavoidable realities of being racially profiled in 1992, as the city becomes transformed by the righteous anger that erupts in the wake of the King verdict.

With insightful prose that reveals the heart, loneliness, and weirdness of adolescence, friendship, and trying to belong, The Black Kids is a vivid tale that feels like a mash-up of parts of the popular ‘90s pseudo drama, 90210 and the late John Singleton’s fantastic television series, Snowfall. Ashley knows that her awkward ways and selfish tendencies get in the way of her accepting Lashawn, one of the cool the Black kids who starts the novel as a rival but ends up as a crush; the Black Kids and really, herself; but she just can’t help herself.

At the center of the narrative are questions about how we lie to ourselves about where we belong and why we think we belong where we do. In Ashley’s words, “We all sew a few sequins on our stories to make them shine brighter.” The Black Kids dazzles in ways that make the whole narrative shimmer, even in places that sometimes are darker than young adult fiction usually roams.

As a young black girl this book is a MUST READ! I received an eARC for this book and I couldn't put it down. A great novel about discovering who you are (and your friends) during a time of turmoil in the world.

The characters have great voices! Teens will enjoy the conflicts and characters. It's a great addition to other realistic fiction that is similar.

This book was incredible! The writing was detailed and engaging and I really enjoyed the characters. I felt as if I knew them!

Very well written story about a significant moment in history. I feel like this story is relevant and important for people to read. As someone who was alive during this time period, I found the story interesting because of the way the author wrote about what was going on in the world. Thank you netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing for providing me with a free DRC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a great depiction of this event in history. I was the same age as Ashley when the Rodney King riots took place. It was plastered all over the news for what seemed like weeks. It was the first time I had ever seen and recognized racial unrest. But much like Ashley I didn’t understand the magnitude of what was happening, but I eventually would.
Ashley Bennett has grown up a wealthy black girl living and attending school in a predominantly white community. She has been blessed with what most of us would consider a charmed life. She is able to hang out on the beach whenever she wants and she wants for nothing. She deals with microaggressions and subtle racial comments made by her “best friends”. But even that she has learned to shrug off. Not to mention, if all goes right in the fall she will be heading to Stanford to start her college career. But after a video of four police officers nearly beating a black man to death emerges things in the city begin to change. These real life events make Ashley examine what it truly means to be black in America, no matter if your family is rich or poor.
Many of the reviews that I have read about this book have had an issue with Ashley’s character. I believe she is what makes this a more sincere coming of age story. As she narrates, the journey she takes you on is one of observation. I liked this detail because it made her and her story more genuine to me. When any of us begin to realize that our world is much different than we thought, we learn that fact through observation. Especially when we are still in our teen years. She spent her whole life looking at the world one way and in a matter of weeks her whole view changes. It isn’t going to be easy to swallow or to even understand, but she does begin to try.
My father, who loves to read, would never read or watch television shows about things he had lived through. I never understood why. I thought it would be almost fun to look back. I now understand why he never wanted to do that. As much as I enjoyed this book, it was hard to look back. To remember growing up much like the main character and having to deal with subtle racism from so-called friends without getting offended is challenging. It was tough listening to them blame Rodney King for nearly being beaten to death as I said nothing. And here it is nearly thirty years later and I am still watching black men be unjustly attacked by our police. However, I no longer stay quiet, I can’t.
I would recommend this book for any young adult library.

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

Ashley Bennett, a high school senior, lives in Los Angeles in 1992. She lives in a well-off neighborhood, surrounded by other well-off students, and attends a fancy school. In many ways she lives a very sheltered life. One afternoon, four LAPD police officers are acquitted after beating and nearly killing, Rodney King, a black man. And suddenly she is no longer one of the group, blending in with her white friends, she is one of the black kids.

As a riot breaks out and the city burns, her friends help spread a rumor about one of her classmates that may impact his future, her sister gets involved in pursuit of justice, and her life seemingly starts to crumble. As much as Ashley wishes she could ignore what's going on in the news like her friends, she can't. The riots impact her life, her family, and bring her identity to light; the riot transforms her.

While similar and a combination of The Hate U Give and All American Boys, this coming of age story was unique in the sense that it is distinctly rooted in the past and shed light on historical events (Rodney King Riots) that happened back in the 90s. I feel like I learned a little more about history from reading this. I liked the topics of identity, self-discovery, and culture. I liked that Reed was able to convey the complicated thoughts surrounding growing up and racism. I did love some of the characters, too- particularly LaShawn and Lana.

My biggest issue is with the main character herself. Ashley observes the world around her but seems to lack the emotion and depth that I saw in other characters, but struggled to see in her. I had a hard time connecting to Ashley with that lack of emotion, and that was a majority of the book. The chapters with her went by so slow for me, but chapters with LaShawn and Lana went much quicker and I generally enjoyed them more.

Overall, this book was ok for me. It didn't meet my expectations like I'd hoped, but I know others loved it. I could see it being a good read for older high school students.

Thank you to #netgalley and St. Martin's Press for this eARC and the opportunity to share my thoughts.

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫/5. This was a decent read.

The book was initially hard for me to get into but once I got past the first two or three chapters I was genuinely interested in where it was going. I didn't like how Ashley's friends treated her. It almost felt as though she was the token black friend. I wish the story delved more into the story of the sister. She was the more interesting one to me honestly. Her and the friend Lana. The book wrapped up in a slightly weird way to me but it should've been expected. I did like the diversity in the book. That was nice. I can't say this book left a lasting impression on me. I just feel like "OK, I read that book. It was cool. What's next?" I received an ARC but I still wanted to show my support to the author by purchasing a copy. I will be following her and picking up her future reads.

Thanks to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

It was slow read for me at first getting into the book but once I did the story began to unfold. I really liked how Christina created the main character Ashley. There are many instances for young teens where they have to figure out who their real friends are and who they are as a person as well. Sometimes this means leaving these people behind and discovering your own path. The book does a great job in discussing the little microaggression and subtle systemic racisms that occurs daily for Black people and how others may not understand the struggles that they may be going through. A definitely must read!

Christina Hammonds digs deep with the complexity of issues and characters in this novel. "The Black Kids" guides readers through several issues beyond just racism. From immigration to family issues and coming of age friendships, she covers a variety of experiences faced by her main character.

As a teacher, I found The Black Kids poignant and relevant to current events. It offers YA readers a unique perspective on what is happening right now. Christina Hammonds Reed is a master of imagery and I found myself using sentences from the book as mentor sentences during our grammar unit. Her depiction of the life of a teen tracks with what I’ve seen in some of my students. Teachers should also be aware that the book uses mature (salty) language and contains drug use.

Ashley is an affluent high school senior at a private school in LA. She navigates typical teenage dilemmas like friendship, love, and college admission; however, she also is navigating what it is to be black in a wealthy, primarily white community during the 1992 LA Riots as the city is burning with violence. Her activist sister and her friend, LaShawn, help her grapple with her sheltered past. She realizes that some of her friends’ flippant racist comments and disregard for Ashley’s safety are indicators of the value they place on friendship.

The Black Kids is an excellent pick for YA readers who enjoy realistic fiction. Personally, I found it slightly slow-moving and the characters difficult to connect with. I wanted to get through it because I knew it was important and relevant, but it took me a while. I will definitely be recommending it to some of my students.

This is the first book I’ve read by Christina Hammonds Reed and I was not disappointed.

The writing is amazing. This story is told from the first-person point of view and I think that was a great choice. Reed does a good job of getting inside the head of a teen girl. I was not born when the LA riots occurred, but Reed makes sure we, as readers, knew how it felt to live in that time. She repaints a vivid picture of the violence, protests, and social injustice that happened during the time. Sadly, it is the same picture we see today in our world.

The story begins a bit slow in the first third of the book but picks up in the last two-thirds. The story is well-paced and easy to follow. Some flashbacks help us understand the cause that happens in the past to explain the effect in the present.

Reed also writes good characters with human flaws. Characters that make us emotional; characters that make us laugh and make us angry; characters that we root for until the very end, whether it be for their demise or triumph.

Ashley is a flawed and ignorant character; and I don’t mean that she was dumb or intelligent. Ashley’s parents made sure that she and her sister, Jo, would never know what it meant to be black and poor; what it meant to grow up in the ‘hood. In her parents' words: they were spoiled brats. And because of this, Ashley brushes off the racism that is thrown her way, turning the other cheek, which angered me.

In the beginning, she was fine, definitely not my favorite character. I disagreed with a lot of the things she did at the start of the book. As the riots happen, she begins to take note of her blackness more. She begins to take a step back and analyze her life and her culture. By the end, I felt that she was beginning to grow, learning from her mistakes and making a 180 degree turn.

Each side character was integral to the plot. Some were enjoyable, like LaShawn and Lana. Some were downright horrible people. Ashley’s three best friends are...something, and that’s all I’ll say without getting into spoiler territory. Her parents and sister were also a piece of work; each having their own internal and external problems that shape Ashley into the girl we see throughout the book.

The only thing that bothered me was the ending. I wanted more. There were confrontations between characters that I was expecting but didn’t happen. I would have been more satisfied if they took place.
I took joy in reading this book. It makes me want to read more books that focus on the same themes. The Black Kids is a great debut for Reed and a must read for everyone. If you loved The Hate U Give, you will definitely enjoy this.

4.5 stars

As a white reader, I want to acknowledge my own privilege in reading this book that is clearly a necessary addition to the current political landscape and conversation. This one would be a great lit circle choice for middle school and high school classes in conjunction with a current events on the BLM protests. Powerful and critical.

3.5/5, rounded up because it was objectively good, just not always my favorite, if that makes sense.

This was another book that falls into that category of "hugely important, but didn't always quite work for me." I was really glad to see a book about the Rodney King riots--a piece of American history that often gets glossed over--especially through the eyes of a teen who is curiously positioned in her view of it. As a very privileged Black teen, Ashley is in that odd place where she is friends with the white kids and doesn't always associate herself with the Black community, but also knows that at the end of the day, her race is part of who she is, and her family history is important as well. Her grappling with that, alongside with her transition from being a girl to being a woman, was well-articulated and nuanced in its development. I was also pleasantly surprised by the way the author was able to make Ashley a rather unlikable person--seriously, she is a terrible friend, and does a lot of things that infuriated me--and yet can still make her sympathetic in other ways, especially in the depth of her feelings and her curious blend of memory and present-day reactions.

As far as style goes, Reed is clearly a talented author. There were SO many sections of the book that I highlighted because they were just excellent quotes. Stream-of-consciousness writing is not always easy, and she pulls it off. However, I don't know if it was quite the right vehicle for this particular story. Maybe it's just a "me" thing, but I felt like it diluted the emotional impact of the book by meandering through past and present, and this is the sort of story that I think should be less reflective and more turbulent. That is, Ashley's emotions are strong, but the way the author words them sometimes causes them to feel less urgent and more passive.

All that said, I do think this book would be a really good book for high school English classes, and it would be a great choice for anyone looking for more books on the deep roots of racial conflict in America during a time that is after the end of segregation/the Civil Rights Movement, but before our present-day situation.

Sadly, I was not a fan of this book at all. I was bored pretty much the entire time and I hated Ashley. If I can’t connect with the narrator it makes the story even worse to get through.

The saddest thing about this book though that while it was set in 1992, it sounded like it could be a book today with what is happening today. You hope that things would have changed in the 28 years since Rodney King beating.

I thought this would be an important book to read, but sadly Ashley’s character made it to hard to get through.

A super sobering look at just how little things have changed for people of color in America. With 45 in office, it's honestly hard to tell if things are worse now or then.

One thing you need to know going into this book is that it’s more of a slice of life book than a story about the Rodney King protests. Everything that happened in Los Angeles during that time informed how Ashley felt and responded to the world around her, but don’t expect much of the plot to revolve directly around that. Most of the story is just about her typical high school life—relationships with boys, friendships, hopes for college, etc. It’s a character study of a black girl growing up with privilege (in many ways) and how that is juxtaposed with the central message that she always has to do better than those around her in order to be seen as worthy. Ironically, she struggles to identify with “the black kids” in her school, even though she is one, and this leads her to a crisis of identity in many ways. Who is she? Who should she be? And does she have to pick a side?

The thing that stands out the most about this book for me is just how little progress has been made since Rodney King was killed. Here we are, almost thirty years later having these very same debates, while black and brown people are still dying. I’m glad I read this just for the reminder that we need to keep fighting. That we can’t let these issues fade into the background as time goes on because they won’t go away on their own. History has proven that. I also learned about a black massacre I didn’t know existed. The book was worth it for me, just because of that. And while I sometimes wished that the plot had gotten closer to the actual Rodney King protests, I was enriched by simply reading the perspective of one person who lived during that time and how it all affected her. It’s a perspective that can inform how I still think about the world today.

***Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was given and all opinions are my own.***

I unfortunately had to DNF this one after 35%. This is one of those books that I am not so sure that Black people are necessarily the target audience on this one due to the detail in which Black trauma is described. As a Black person who was alive during the Rodney King beating and has known from a young age what it means to be Black in the US, I really did not appreciate the GRAPHIC descriptions surrounding Rodney King's beating and the LA Riots. I do think this book is important for those who may not have been aware as well as a great book for allies.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishing house for providing a review copy of this novel. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book is perfect for fans of, The Hate U Give, and packed a POWERFUL punch this month. George Floyd’s death is still so fresh in my mind and, perhaps, that is why this one moved me in so many similar ways.

In the midst of the 1992 L.A. Rodney King Riots, we see what this would look like to a wealthy high school senior, who happens to be one of the few black kids at her private school . Although Ashley feels distant from the tragedy, her sister is completely enveloped in the protests.

It’s as she is observing the ripple effects of these riots that she begins to learn about her family’s own history, recognize the racism that she had failed to acknowledge before, and finds her place in a community she didn’t feel she belonged.

If you have an older teen, I encourage you to pass this book on to them. This is a strong debut and I can’t wait to see more from this author.