The Black Kids takes a place next to The Hate U Give and other transformative recent books about the young adult Black experience.

Set during the weeks of the King Riots in LA, TBK manages to strike exactly the right chord for how a teen might feel - especially one raised to know she is Black but not really what that *means*. Ashley struggles with her internalized anti-Blackness and it was handled beautifully.

I was also in high school when the riots happened, but I lived far away. This book brought me back to a time I didn’t understand when it was happening and contextualized it for me. Thank you, Ms. Reed.

"The Black Kids" by Christina Hammonds Reed is a story of a brutal incident that happened as a result of racism through the black teen protagonist Ashley. This story starts with Rodney King being brutally murdered by Police officers. This incident took its actual turn with the LA riots for its justice when the accused officers were acquitted.

I loved the author's writing style throughout the book. It was so simple and impressive. Even though the scenes were from the past and the present, it wasn't confusing. I could say that the whole book was full of emotional contents. What is more painful is that this kind of racist acts still happens and I wonder when these things will come to a halt.

Ashley, the protagonist is a high school senior with a wealthy background. Through her, I was clearly able to get what a black kid would go through and how they would feel around white people despite her life status. The one thing I don't like in her was that she didn't feel guilty for betraying her best friend at the same time she was guilty of the rumours she had spread of her not-so-close friend. So I felt that her character was weird and hard to understand.

This book made me understand more about how a person will be affected only because of their skin complexion. I really wish and hope that this kind of racism issues would not happen anymore. I would recommend this book to all so that everyone would be more aware of the racism impacts.

When I began reading 'The Black Kids', I knew that this book will be one of the most memorable reads of this year. And when I finished reading it, I came to a conclusion that 'Black Kids' has now become one of the most memorable reads of my life! Everything about this book was outstanding! As the synopsis suggests, the story is set in the nineties and revolves around Ashley, a rich teenage black girl who has always been shielded from the brutal reality that takes place with the black community. But one April, while she was busy trying to fit in with the people who do not even understand the importance of diversity, she encounters something that changes her life for good.

The plot was really well-planned and well-researched. Every event that took place in the story and every fact left a great impact. The pace was really well balanced as well. It has been quite a long time since I have come across such a perfect plot. 

The characters were pretty realistic and had a voice of their own. Be it the protagonists or the antagonists, I had a great time reading about them. It was an in-sighting experience to read about such diverse characters. It really made me learn a lot.

The writing style, according to me was something that really surprised me. I was not expecting the writing style to be so polished and good considering this is Christina's debut book! I really believe through her book, she has done a brilliant job at in-cooperating every important issue revolving around the Black Community that needs attention.

Trigger Warning: Racism, microaggressions, mention of depression, mention of suicide, physical abuse

The Good

The language of this story was stunning. The author has a Master’s in Creative Writing and it shows. Degrees aside, the way this story is narrated is done so beautifully. The imagery really got to me. It’s really easy to get lost in Reed’s writing. You might even get to a point where you feel like you’re flying, too.

The character development was so well done. Ashley doesn’t start off as the most likable character and that’s okay. She makes mistakes and learns valuable lessons along the way. This story is as much about Ashley’s development as it is about the city.

And on that note, it really felt like I was reading the story of a high schooler. Ashley’s voice came off as so natural and authentic. A lot of the things she thought and did reminded me of my own high school experience.

The supporting characters were fully fleshed out. They each had their own personalities and backgrounds. There isn’t a “villain” or “hero” in this story, just people trying to move forward as the world around them burns.

Last, but certainly not least, I love the historical backdrop. I wouldn’t consider myself a 90s kid, I was actually born into one of the last months of the decade, but this definitely made me feel like I was one for a minute. You really get immersed into the culture of 1992 as you read the story.

The Not so Good

I can’t think of anything inherently bad with this story. Ashley starts off as someone who’s decisions you probably won’t agree with, but she grows from that experience and there’s something extra beautiful about that.

All in All

I really enjoyed this story and I’m so happy to have gotten an ARC. It was so well written and definitely gave me something to chew on. It’s wild to see the way that history is repeating itself but this books couldn’t have come out at a better time. If you care about the fight against racism, this should definitely be on your TBR.

I was so excited to read this one:

*YA Black coming of age
*Set in 1990s LA
*Discusses race, riots, oppression, and what it means to be a teenager
*THIS COVER
SOLD.

Christina Hammonds Reed created a beautiful story that I would highly recommend. As we see a trend of readers buying books about race/oppression/whiteness, I want to make sure that people don't sleep on fiction, YA, romance, fantasy. The Black Kids is extremely hard to read and deals with critical issues of importance - just because it is YA doesn't mean it should be dismissed.

Ashley is a young Black teenager who's parents have given her and her sister Jo a privileged life: she goes to an amazing private school, lives in a fancy neighborhood, and never wants for anything. But as we know, wealth can't protect Black folx from experiencing racism and Ashley and her family face it consistently. As Ashley's senior year unfolds with a backdrop of the Rodney King beating and riots of 1992, Ashley reflects on what it means to be Black with her friends, her family, and in her city.

I've seen a lot of reviews about people who didn't know anything about the LA riots, in 1992 or 1965, or even the Tulsa Massacre/Black Wall Street. This book felt like a history book wrapped in YA - the setting highlighted oppression and racism that happened during that time but also is parallel to the racism and oppression that we are experiencing now.

You can't read this book and not connect with Ashley, who is only 17. This book made me reflect on the ways that we treat young Black teenagers - how they are presumed guilty until proven innocent, how they are tried as adults even as children, viewed as more mature just because they are Black. Ashley is struggling like any other high school student but her struggles are so much more complex because of her identity. Everytime her friends said something racist, a microaggression, racial abuse, I wanted to yell at Ashley: SAY SOMETHING. KICK THEM TO THE CURB. And then I remembered when people called me an "Oreo" in high school and how I laughed it off. Ashley's growth throughout this book felt so real, and ultimately felt like the start of a beautiful journey for her.

I also loved the dynamic between Ashley, her sister Jo and her cousin Morgan. It highlights the ways our experiences shape us, that Black people aren't a monolith, and that there are complexities within the Black experience.

Overall, I loved this book and I highly recommend it.
Thank you to Simon and Schuster for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

With the current Black Lives Matter movement and protests, "The Black Kids" could not be released at a more perfect time. This book focuses on coming of age while tackling topics such as protests, riots, racism, and class. The story follows, Ashley, a black high school student attending private school as she questions friendship, identity, and place in the world. This book is one of the few that I have read that has a person of color attending a private school. It was easier to understand what Ashley was going through because it was as if I was seeing myself and my similar experiences while reading. Although I think this book is important to read, I couldn't get through it. There were so many flashbacks and it made it a little confusing to read. Additionally, I found it to be a little slow.

Ashley Bennett has lived a luxurious life in an upper class Los Angeles neighborhood. However, as the school year winds down and a local man, Rodney King is murdered, Ashley is forced to reevaluate how she views herself and her peers. At first, Ashley the Rodney King murder is barely a blip on Ashley's radar, although after the verdict is delivered and the protests and riots begin, Ashley begins to see a difference in the way she and her family are treated. She is not just any girl at her high school, she is one of the black kids.

The Black Kids is so on point and perfectly written that I want everyone to read this book immediately. Honest, poignant, and driven, the writing had me hooked from the beginning; it was eerie how the events of the very first chapter seemed to perfectly echo the current events of the USA. I liked that Ashley's character was not the typical 'black kid' of the time and had to experience the consequences of the Rodney King murder to realize the truth of how her race effects her daily life. Through Ashley's eyes I experienced the blatant racism and sexism that was as rampant in 1992 as it is now. The prose also perfectly captured the wonders of being a teen along with the nostalgia of the early 1990's. Ashley's journey had great revelations about racism and the weight of representing her race in a white world, as well as understanding of poverty, friendship and growing up. The consequences of the Rodney King verdict and the subsequent riots were a turning point in Ashley's view of herself and her life, opening up her eyes and my own to see just how long people of color have been vigilantly fighting against systemic racism in the USA and highlighting the cycle of racism, unjust killing, protest and unrest until we put a bandage on the current issue until we forget about what caused the previous issue. The Black Kids is a must-read for everyone who wants to better understand the world we live in.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review.

Police brutality, Depictions/Mentions of suicide, Racism, Uses of the n-word, Domestic abuse


Disclaimer: I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to Hear Our Voices Book Tours, Netgalley, and Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers for this free copy. All quotes in this review are taken from the Advanced Reader Copy and may change in final publication.

I’m telling you… this book was super uncomfortable in the best way? I feel like that’s super weird to say honestly, but when you read this, you will understand what I mean. This book was really, really good at showing just how shitty the L.A. Riots were, and how Black and brown people were treated back then – and it was such a parallel of what’s going on in the world right now. I mean… it’s not like any of these things ever stopped, so it’s just really a continuation.

Anyway, I feel like I’m still trying to get my thoughts around this book because there was so much of it that I hated – because I think you were supposed to hate it – so of course my emotions while I was reading this was conflicting with how I actually felt about the book. Which, I guess if we think about it, those are some of the best kinds of books out there.

I’ll start with one that I know a lot of people may agree with here, and it just so happens to have been Christina’s intention so I don’t feel bad about this, but I. HATED. ASHLEY. I legit hated her so much for the majority of the novel. I think the only time I started to slowly defrost and I guess feel some type of okay way for her was legitimately at the very ending. I was glad that there was a little bit that redeemed her in my eyes, but not by much. You could tell that her privilege just completely clouded a lot of her viewpoint of the world around her. Even though she would say that she wasn’t sheltered because she is Black – which granted, yes that is somewhat true – she was sheltered in so many other ways. I really felt like she thought she was better than the other Black kids at her school, or even just in the poor neighborhoods around her because she had the privilege of having a mom and dad with great ass paying jobs. Ashley and her sister Jo did not have to want for anything, and honestly I don’t know if they realized that that was special in and of itself.

And on another note: ASHLEY’S FRIENDS WERE JERKS. Well, mostly Kimberly? Yeah she was on a whole different level. Like, I think the moment that Ashley sees her for what she is and sees that she was never really safe from Kimberly’s attacks like she thought she was finally opened her eyes to the crap that she would do. The racist crap that she would do. And honestly, I know that Kimberly had a powerful influence on everyone, and I get the dynamic of friends following in their leader’s footsteps and stuff. I get that, but I just wish that the other girls stood against her when she would do some really bad stuff. Said some really bad stuff. Oh well. It’s high school, we are still trying to learn about ourselves, it happens. I wasn’t any better, so I can’t say I would have done anything different if I was in their shoes.

This was a powerful book that taught you more about the L.A. Riots and what started it than any other US History class in the public education system. Seriously, I don’t know how many people have mentioned that they didn’t know about the L.A. Riots, Rodney King, or even Latasha Harlins. You can bet barely anyone has heard about Latasha Harlins because she was just a 15 year old Black girl who was shot in the head over a can of orange juice. Just like all the other Black girls and women killed in society, her name wasn’t mentioned. Her story was silent. And that needs to stop. It just does. This book even talks about the destruction of Black Wall Street, which I know a TON of people didn’t even know was a thing because that’s not taught in schools either. And while I wouldn’t say that you should just read this book and consider yourself educated on these events, you should take what you learned in this book to further educate yourself on these things, and see what has been hidden from you.

✨𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐊𝐈𝐃𝐒 [REVIEW & FAV QUOTES] ✨ ⁣⁣
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Thank you to @simonteen and @hearourvoicestours for the gifted eARC! ⁣
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𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘒𝘪𝘥𝘴 by Christina Hammonds Reed provides an exploration of race, class and violence through the eyes of a wealthy Black teenager named Ashley Bennett, whose family gets caught in the vortex of Rodney King riots.⁣⁣
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𝘗𝘜𝘛 𝘛𝘏𝘐𝘚 𝘉𝘖𝘖𝘒 𝘐𝘕 𝘠𝘖𝘜𝘙 𝘊𝘓𝘈𝘚𝘚𝘙𝘖𝘖𝘔𝘚 𝘈𝘕𝘋 𝘏𝘖𝘔𝘌𝘚! ⁣⁣
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Reading this book made my heart hurt. Within The Black Kids, issues like police brutality, racial profiling, privilege, systemic racism, identity, stereotypical behavior, rioting, family dynamics and even tearing down our own are explored. My word, this book was a reminder that so much has time has passed but so little has changed. Its like deja vu and it’s a no brainer, these issues keep happening...𝗪𝐄 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐓𝐈𝐑𝐄𝐃. ⁣⁣
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Ashley’s friends though? They brought out some deep feelings. Microaggressions GALORE😒. At times we even see Ashley dimming her own light to excuse racist comments and behaviors 🥺😩. Can we think of a time where we’ve done this to ease the conversation? To check ourselves KNOWING that just our Black existence makes others uncomfortable. To make oppressors feel safe and welcome, despite how we’ve been made to feel? Of course we can. Believe me there were PLENTY these instances.⁣⁣
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There’s so much packed within this book, so many shifts of understanding for Ashley. Here’s a few quotes that really stood out to me during those pivotal moments.⁣⁣
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𝐅𝐀𝐕𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐐𝐔𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐒: ⁣⁣
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“Sometimes being different means hiding pieces of yourself away so that others people’s mean can’t find them.” ⁣⁣
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“These are the ads they play on Spanish and Black people stations - bail bonds, cheap auto insurance, ads in which grown men berate your very existence”⁣⁣
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“The system’s rigged against us. It was built that way.” ⁣⁣
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“If all the hero’s in our stories are white, what does that make us?”⁣⁣

This is what y’all really think of me? This is all I am to you?”

“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? Don’t you ever just want to be human?”

“They’re not as open with their bodies, as free with their laughter. They sit and whisper with one another. Them. Us. Our. They.”

I hard but necessary read, especially in our current social and political climate. Ashley, a Black high school student in a predominantly white neighborhood/school/society, grapples with her own identity and choices against the backdrop of the Rodney King murder and ensuing riots. The relevance to our current climate is palpable. I think this book belongs in the classroom, not only as a thematically important point of discussion - coming of age story, Black experiences, questioning oneself/one's choices, the self-confidence of young women, etc. - but as a socially and culturally important point of discussion.

I'd have like to hear more about and from Morgan and Lashawn, but I also enjoyed having Ashley as the main focal point. She is honest and raw at times while trying to figure out her place in her society and even family - something I think everyone can relate to. As a teacher to mostly white students in an area of affluence, I think this book is really important for my students to read so they can see what life is like for other people who they may or may not come in contact with. I think this book helps build empathy and understanding - two things our world could use more of. However, I think it's also inspiring - not just to fight against racism but to fight for social justice as a whole.

I enjoyed reading this book and would recommend it even to my middle school students. I look forward to reading more from Christina Hammonds Reed!

I thought this book was very good. I like how Christina Hammonds Reed wrote Ashley's character- she's flawed, her family is not perfect, she has some privilege, but she makes some poor decisions. I did not anticipate- but was pleased with- the riots being the catalyst for Ashley's self discovery. I also loved the authors choice of writing a novel around the Rodney King riots in LA in the early 90's. As a teacher, this is a book that I would recommend to my students as a piece of their education around our country's history or racism and police brutality.

Some characters are developed more than others. I would have liked to read a bit from LaShawn or Morgan's perspectives. However, so many authors are writing books with multiple perspectives that it was a breath of fresh air that this one is solely Ashley's point of view. Ashley has 3 best friends that don't really develop and are kind of just distantly racist and in the background. One is mean, one is tired of living in the shadows of the mean girl, and another might have had cancer? They don't really do much more than that.

My one complaint (if it is that) was that the transitions throughout the story seemed a little off. Ashley would jump into memories and flashbacks and it would be hard to tell when it happened. I'm not sure if this would be clearer if the book was in print, but it was a little hard to keep up with.

All in all, this is a book I would recommend to my students, colleagues, and friends. I'm looking forward to seeing what Christina Hammonds Reed writes next.

TW:// Police brutality, Depictions/Mentions of suicide, Racism, Uses of the n-word, Domestic abuse.

This book is probably going to make a lot of people uncomfortable.
Good.

The Black Kids is set in 1992 during the LA Riots, and the fact that it feels like it could've been set this year is not lost on me whatsoever. If you don't know who Rodney King is, or Latasha Harlins, please look them up (but please, don't watch the video. I've seen it and it's... brutal, for the lack of a better word). Educate yourself. Realize that nothing's changed.

There are discussions and realizations over privilege, over microaggressions from people you've known your whole life, over the idea of "them versus us" mentality. One of the characters tells Ashley that she's not "blackity black". Her mom walks by three kids getting beaten by the police.

It's an important book to read. I don't really know what else to say.

This is one of those books that should be added to the high school curriculum, in my opinion.

I actually remember when the events in this book happened. Granted, I was young and living completely across the country, but it’s the first time I can ever recall being really aware of a major, racial event occurring in my own lifetime. (I’m sure there were plenty that actually happened, just not that actually popped up on my young radar). However, it was really interesting to revisit this event not only from my own adult point of view, but to see it through the eyes of a young Black girl who lived in the area.

Ashley was an intriguing character. She lives the good life with her friends, in a rich area, going to a great school, with her entire life and all kinds of opportunities ahead of her. However, she isn’t exactly like her friends. She’s a little more aware of how her skin color influences how her friends act towards her, how other people act towards her, how people view her, and how she has to behave. She’s no stranger to microaggressions, and even to outright racism.

As the police officers are acquitted, and LA descends into riots, she starts to see things a little differently, even as she tries to go on as though everything is normal. The “perfect family” front her parents have worked so hard to maintain is crumbling. Her sister gets actively involved in the riots. Her friends spread a malicious rumor that could ruin the bright future of a fellow student, one who happens to be Black. Ashley realizes that she can’t keep pretending everything is normal.

Ashley has to figure out where she stands as her world is literally burning — facing the intersection of race, class, violence, while learning more about who she is, who she wants to be, and who her real friends are.

If you get the chance to read this one, definitely do it. It’s told through the eyes of a girl in her late teens, and it feels so genuine. The story is deep and unflinching, but meaningful and real. It’s definitely one of the best books I’ve read this year.

I put all my other current reads on hold to start this one. I watched Christina Hammonds Reed chat about her book a couple weeks ago and was intrigued. It hurt my ego a little that the book was referred to as “historical fiction” since I can vividly remember the beating of Rodney King, the trial, and the outcry. I also remember a Doogie Houser, M.D. episode that focused on the protests. So yeah, I know yesterday is technically history, but when I think historical fiction, I’m thinking prairies or wars or societies without technology, not something I was alive for.

Anyway, I really enjoyed this novel. Ashley, the main character, is a senior and one of the few Black girls at her school. Her best friends, whom she has grown up with, are all white. She lives with her parents and her nanny, Lucia, in a nice neighborhood in LA in the early 1990s.

When the verdict is released, Ashley begins to go through a sort of transition. She starts to reexamine who her friends truly are, and she begins to see the ones she grew up with for who they truly are.

As America faces yet another incident of police brutality with the George Floyd case and the ones that have happened since the end of May and before, it was hard to read this book and realize America hasn’t changed in 30 years. Whites still think they’re better. Police still use excessive force, especially on Blacks. Systematic racism continues to harm our Black communities. It was hard to read.

Even though this book made me feel ashamed of where America currently is, I think this is a perfect book to add to any high school library. I think this will bring about great conversation, and it will help a lot of students (and adults) process through our current events.

7 year old Ashley lives in affluent LA neighborhood. The year is 1992 and the Rodney King beating has just taken place and officers who did it are going on trial. Ashley has always grown up in a predominately white neighborhood and she is trying to figure out where she fits in during these rising racial tensions.

I really enjoyed this book overall. The writing was good, the pacing was good, and the characters were realistic. I liked the discussions that the author had in regards to being a Black girl in the world. Trying to figure out your place among peers who don't look like you. The lessons that she still has to be taught as a Black person in America. Also, how microaggressions tend to be ignored when you're the only Black person around.

Ashley is not a likable character but I think that's what made her more realistic. She was sometimes the catalyst for things that happened to her and then there were other things that just happened to her.

My main problem with this book is that the author tried to introduce too many things and with the length of the book, she wasn't able to flesh out everything. I believe that this book is an excellent way to start conversations and also to trigger researching of recent events in Black history.

Overall, I do recommend this book and I think that you should definitely check it out.

The Black Kids is an impactful story that features excellent character growth in our protagonist Ashley. There’s exploration of how racial trauma and the history of racial trauma impacts the mental healthy of Black folks in America. I enjoyed the friendships that Ashley develops throughout the novel, and I also enjoyed how her current friendships morph throughout the book. This novel is an excellent portrayal of the complexities of friendship, romance, and self-discovery all set against the backdrop of one of the moment tumultuous protests in our modern history where one Black girl has to grapple with what it means to be Black, not only to herself but to the people around.

Thank You for Netgalley for providing me an arc to review.

This book has a lock of unpacking that I think is crucial to dig into. Not only does it talks about systematic racism, but it also ranges on topics of privilege, race, identity, injustice, and more.
I personally found the book to be a bit slow, but I think the pacing of the story is also important to consider for character development and plot development.
In an educator lens, this book is beneficial as it has context of a true historic event that mimics the reality that we live through right now. The fact that we are STILL living through this now.
I wouldn't recommend reading the book in middle school, but as a black educator I would suggest that this would be considered in high school-as this is much more complex and honest than The Hate U Give, for example.

I really wanted to love this book. There were some powerful moments and powerful passages, and I was really interested in the setting and time period. I will most definitely read Christina Hammonds Reed's next novel, but I struggled a lot with this one.

I mainly had trouble with the editing. There were some pacing issues and troubling transitions between flashbacks and present time, which made it really hard to follow in places. There's the makings of a phenomenal story here (I would have loved if it was from Jo's or LaShawn's perspective because they were both really interesting characters). However, I struggled with it from Ashley's viewpoint as I ultimately couldn't connect with her character.

I will check it out again when the final published version comes out because perhaps some of these timeline issues are more clearly addressed in the final copy. I received a review copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I have seen the author of The Black Kids, Christina Hammonds Reed, on multiple panels talking about this book. It did noT disappoint! I remember when this injustice happened in 1992 and very saddened that nearly 30 years later the same battles are being fought! Maybe Ashley’s generation will finally get it right!

I really enjoyed reading this book. The storyline was compelling, the characters changed and grew. It is set in LA during the Rodney King verdict and the ensuing riots. It feels relevant today. Some of the writing is quite beautiful.

Ashley is one of the only black kids in her school and in her neighborhood. She's been friends with three white girls since they were small. Now they are close to graduation, and Ashley starts to question everything- her friendships, what is going on in her family, and her own actions. There are so many themes beyond the examination of racial bias that make this book superb. When should you keep someone else's secret and when should you share it? How do you ask for forgiveness when you have betrayed someone?

Fans of the Hate U Give will love this book. There are some mature themes- sex, drugs and alcohol,