Book Details:
- Published Date: August 4, 2020
- Author: Christina Hammonds Reed
- Narrator: Kiersey Clemons
- Genre: Young Adult, Fiction, Historical, Realistic
- Format: Audible
- Length: 8h 55m
Los Angeles, 1992
Ashley Bennett and her friends are living the charmed life. It’s the end of senior year, and they’re spending more time at the beach than in the classroom. They can already feel the sunny days and endless possibilities of summer.
Everything changes 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. Even as her self-destructive sister gets dangerously involved in the riots. Even as the model Black family façade her wealthy and prominent parents have built starts to crumble. Even as her best friends help spread a rumor that could completely derail the future of her classmate and fellow Black kid, LaShawn Johnson.
With her world splintering around her, Ashley, along with the rest of LA, is left to question who is the us? And who is the them? (Amazon)
This book is good in it’s own way. However, I do feel like the story was kind of rushed or jumbled so to speak. This book 100% dives into some deep topics that should be talked about, but sometimes the story seemed to be all over the place. Almost as if the book was slightly rushed.
Ashley was easily and unlikable character. She seemed to not care about anything that was going on and acted as if it wasn’t going to impact her. However, I do feel there is a lot to learn, just from her character alone.
This book is heavy on the social issues and it’s something that I will always believe needs to be talked about. This is a good debut book, regardless of the things I didn’t like about it. I would definitely recommend it as it is a quick read as well.
My Rating:
Have you read The Black Kids? What were your thoughts?
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