The Black Kids is set in LA in the 1990's and focuses on the 1992 riots. I think this is a super important book that way more people should be aware of and should read. It covers some hard but really important topics such as systemic racism and police brutality, especially important right now in our current political climate. This book was reminiscent of The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas in the best ways. I felt so much for these characters, especially Ash and just wanted the best for them. I loved the found friendships throughout the novel. I found the ending to be really heartwarming but in a really true to life manner. I can't wait to get my hands on a finished copy and to see some own voices reviews for this one.
4 out of 5 stars.

I will no longer be reviewing this book. Unfortunately it is not for me. The themes are important and I think that it will be a good book, more suitably reviewed by others.

All I have to say is wow. I wanted to give feedback promptly but I will definitely be updating this. This is incredible, shocking and heartbreaking. A timeless discussion on racism that explores its ingrained nature within society

Rep: Black representation, LGBTQIA+

TW: racism, violence, rioting

Wow. This book packs a punch. Told from the perspective of Ashley Bennett in 1992, this story explores an authentic teenage experience, while also tackling difficult subjects such as systemic racism and privilege. The story perfectly captures Ashley’s struggles with trying to belong with her non-Black friends while feeling guilty about not embracing her Black culture more. She struggles with her privilege and her desire to run away from complicated issues, while acknowledging that ignoring the problem doesn’t solve anything. Watching her observe, grow, and change through her experiences was incredible; the author just did such a fantastic job and avoided all cliches. This novel was gritty, powerful, and evocative – I cannot recommend it enough! It deserves all the hype it can get, so if you’re looking for an amazing ownvoice read, please give this one a shot!

What a great book! The Black Kids covers important messages about race and class, and combines that with the reality of being a teenager trying to understand their place in the world. Add in some difficult family issues and set it against a back drop of race riots, and this story really grabs your attention.

Intelligently written, the story felt real, honest and relevant. There was no sugar coating the realities faced by these characters and the main character, Ashley is forced to reflect on who she is and the relationships she has with those closest to her. At times it was difficult to read and helps highlight some of the ways that racism is normalised even by people who should know better.

What I really loved is that although the story wasn’t about the LA race riots as such, it was a constant theme throughout the story, and was featured heavily at key moments. It provided a very real reminder of the events taking place and how they impacted Ashley, her family and her friends. I don’t know too much about this part of American history but this appeared to be a realistic insight into what it’s like living in constant fear that you will be treated differently purely because of the colour of your skin.

A fantastic YA contemporary that I think will soon become a favourite for many!

When a book hits you in all the feels, it's so hard to collate exactly what you want to say and write in a way thats articulate. The Black Kids has really broken my ability to think clearly, it was everything I wanted it to be and more. It made me laugh, it made me cry and overall it left a warm glow in my heart.

The timing of the publication seems almost crazy, with the protests that have swept the world mirrored so perfectly in these pages (although this fictional account is based around the LA riots). What's truly impactful about the book, is that it's set in 1992, and here we are nearly 30 years later, and the same divisions still exist in society. Black people are still being disproportionately stopped by the police, Black people are still being murdered because of the colour of their skin, along with so much more continued injustice that just needs to stop.

I loved reading from Ashley's perspective. She was lost, confused, flawed, you just couldn't help but like her. The book is written in such away that her journey of self discovery is slow and subtle, it doesn't exactly dominate the novel but it was a joy to read about. I felt for her on so many occasions, life has swept her along and she finds herself going with the flow without really questioning things or speaking up for herself. Through her we see how casually racism can sneak into her everyday life, how subtle 'friendly' digs and slight double takes are just as bad as someone using all out offensive language.

The writing is beautiful and felt effortless. It completely grips you, dropping you into the centre of Ashley's life. I can't explain how much I enjoyed all the throw back references, I felt like I'd be thrown head first into the early 90's. Whilst I was too young to remember some of what's mentioned, it was still like returning to childhood, and so nostalgic! The book isn't just about racism, although that's a key theme. It looks closely at the class system and the wealth divide, bullying, family divides, as well as plenty of other issues.

I could truly ramble for hours about how wonderful I thought this book was. It's impactful, whilst remaining true to life. I truly felt as though I'd taken a walk in Ashley's shoes, and I enjoyed my time with her immensely. All the stars from me. Definitely read it if you get the chance!

Trigger Warnings: police brutality, suicide, protests, rioting, arson.

Note: I am not a Black reviewer, and requesting this without checking that ownvoices reviewers were also getting copies was wrong of me. For each of the BIPOC books I requested in the last few months without checking they were also being distributed to ownvoices, I will be donating the RRP of each book to a Black Lives Matter associated charity, and in future I will do better. Be sure to sign petitions and donate through here, a BLM carrd (https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/)

It took me a little while to get into this book, but that’s probably just because it’s got a strong contemporary feel to it and that’s not my favourite genre. In saying that, once I got into this book, I was completely hooked on it. I was expecting the trial and the protests that fired up as a response to the LAPD officers getting acquitted to be the main plot of this book, but actually it felt much more like a coming of age story where Ashley, the main character, was finding herself and where she fits into her communities. Ashley is a hell of a protagonist, and I loved how well-written and real she was.

For someone who doesn’t read a lot of coming-of-age stories, I absolutely adored this one. I felt intensely emotionally attached to Ashley and her journey as she struggled with the explosive racial tensions in her community, and found herself torn between feeling ‘not Black enough’ for her community and ‘not white enough’ for her schoolmates. As a white reader I could never begin to imagine what it feels like to be torn in your own identity like that, but Christina Hammonds Reed does an incredible job of portraying the conflict and uncertainty in Ashley in a way that made my heart hurt. The setting itself was incredibly vivid and I loved the descriptions in this book. I felt at several points like I was walking down the streets alongside Ashley because they were so well described and the time period was so distinct.

Ashley’s ‘friends’ were deeply dislikable. I hated the way they treated her and the microaggressions that she suffered, particularly in moments when they acknowledged that she would be treated worse than them because she’s Black without seeming to care that their behaviour enabled it, and even joking about it at times. It was eye-opening to me to see so many little comments from Ashley’s perspective, and definitely made me think about how I can better challenge those so-called ‘harmless’ comments that aren’t harmless at all.

I adored the way this book handled Ashley’s family relationships, and how they were impacted differently by the protests. The scenes where the whole family were together were raw and real and I loved each member of her family – particularly their flawed and loving relationships. Reading about the protests was exactly as heart-breaking and enraging as I expected, knowing that thirty years later, the exact same fight is still being fought in Black neighbourhoods policed by white cops who get away with brutalising Black people under the guise of ‘protecting’.

Ashley Bennett is a wealthy black girl, attending a predominantly white private school. The setting is Los Angeles, in the 1990s. Four white LAPD officers have just been acquitted for beating Rodney King, kickstarting the 1992 LA riots. For Ash, this is the start of a coming of age journey, where she discovers who she is and where she fits in society. The mix of California fires and earthquakes, and the racism and riots on the streets of LA make for a violent, overwhelming mix in this emotional and heartwrenching coming of age novel that's reminiscent of The Hate U Give.

This book has some incredibly compelling characters. Ash is a teenager, focused on the upcoming prom, drinking with her friends, boys and sex, but also dealing with being the one black kid in her group of friends. Racism is something she deals with on a day to day basis, and she shrugs off microaggressions from her friends in order to keep her place in her white friendship group. She doesn't fit in with the other black kids. Race and class both cause problems for her; she's too rich to be black but too black to be white. She's complicated, and slowly figuring out who she really is. Then there's Jo, Ash's wayward sister. Older than Ash, and already left home, Jo rebels against their middle class parents, who are focused on being the 'right' kind of black, so that their children can have better lives than they had. But racism is systemic, and Ash is slowly realising that it doesn't matter what you do, the world still sees you as black.

This story is a journey of self discovery. The writing is beautiful. It's emotive and engaging, at times even poetic. It is about girlhood, blackness and class. About racism, both subtle and overt. About coming of age and growing up. It is atmospheric and emotional. The mixture of teen issues, like choosing a university, and dating, and bigger issues like police brutality and the riots, make the story compelling and engaging. Ash has to navigate relationships and friendships, learning that everyone is complex and complicated, and that no one is exactly what they seem like from a first glance.

This book is an incredibly powerful read, and, with the current political situation and the current protests against police brutality, a very important read for the current times. It explores why people riot, what it feels like when you feel like you represent your entire race, and how that affects your behaviour and your choices, and why 'I don't see race' is a racist sentiment, as well as being patently untrue.

Something that hit me whilst reading this book was that back in the 90s, body cam footage was a new thing, and it brought hope with it. How can they not convict when there's video evidence? But the fact that police brutality is still as much of an issue today is evidence that it just doesn't work like that.

This is definitely a book that you should read.

I don't read a lot of contemporary, so when I do I like it to be hard hitting. Hence why most of my contemporary is YA, those markets have so much potential when it comes to important issues. The Black Kids is a book about Ashley, a high school teenager in LA. She's Black, and she's in a predominantly white private school. Her parents have made their way in the world and they're rich. The year is 1992, and the LA riots have started due to the murder of Rodney King by police (and unsurprisingly the perpetrators were acquitted). To avoid spoilers I won't say anymore, but I'm sure you can guess the direction that this book goes in.

As soon as I found out it was set in '92 I assumed there wouldn't be any LGBTQIA+ representation. Thankfully I was wrong! This book is wonderfully diverse, with various LGBTQIA+ characters and it also has diverse rep in terms of race. 

One thing I adored about how Christina Hammonds Reed crafted the story is that she was able to give us multiple different viewpoints on the riots and race in general just from one main character. Ashley has been friends with a group of white girls since she was little, and they've been dating white boys. However, as she moves around different circles of people as the book progresses we also get to see what she thinks when within lots of different groups with different races, monetary status and more. This skilful writing really makes this book what it is and is a key part to why I loved it so much.

Our protagonist is the victim of microaggressions as well as blatant racism. You probably could've guessed that already. But she isn't perfect herself. She actually, throughout the course of the book, does various things that we the reader will judge her for. She doesn't shy away from this, she doesn't pretend like she's perfect, and that makes her so much more relatable as a person. We all fuck up, we all make mistakes.

This book also taught me about a number of events in US history. One obvious one that isn't a spoiler is the '92 LA riots. As a white Brit who was born in 1996 I genuinely didn't know as I read through this book whether the riot was fictional or real. I of course did research and discovered that this was a very real riot that occurred and that Rodney King was in fact murdered by police. I have also since done research on other events that happened both in the US and elsewhere that the book mentions. I don't know why I had never learnt about these. Whether it's because I'm white or because I'm British (I'm assuming a mix of the two), but I'm so so grateful to this book for bringing these to my attention.

I was able to read an advanced copy of this book thanks to NetGalley, I only picked this up because it was available through the "read now" section rather than requesting it. I won't be requesting diverse books and will only read those available on my "read now" tab as I am white and I don't want to take the opportunity to read a book away from an OV reviewer. I can always pick it up once it's been published!

I ended up giving The Black Kids 4 stars out of 5. I think that if I had been from the US I would have rated this the full 5 stars, but I just didn't have the cultural connection to the book (I'm British if you don't know). As it is I can't actually think of anything negative so it is just that spark that's missing for me. I really really recommend picking this book up, it comes out on the 5th August and you should definitely get a delivery from your local bookshop!

ARC provided by Simon and Schuster UK via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Black Kids by Christina Hammonds Reed is the remarkable story of Ashley, a Black teenage girl, set during the end of her senior year in high school and the aftermath of the acquittal of the police officers who beat Rodney King half to death.

Ashley is seventeen, Black and rich. Her childhood friends are also rich, but they are white girls named Heather, Courtney and Kimberly. Kimberly is the worst of the three. She’s racist, mean and altogether horrible. Courtney is not evil per se, she is not able to think for herself, at least for most of the narration, and mindlessly follows Kimberly’s lead. Heather strikes me as the one that can be better, she doesn’t get everything right, but like everyone else she is learning. Ashley should have listened to Lucia’s words about finding new friends earlier than she did though.
Ashley’s parents are hard-working, successful people. They wished to preserve their daughters’ childhood for as long as they could, before revealing the nature of the society in which they live and how blatantly racism interlaces with it.
Josephine is Ashley’s older sister. She is the apparent “black sheep” of the family, because she didn’t act according to anyone’s plan except hers. She’s a college dropout who marries a white construction worker and has a difficult relationship with her mother. She’s a revolutionary. She saw how her society worked and wanted to try and change it.
My favourite character is Lucia. She works as a childminder/housekeeper for Ashley’s family, but she acts as a second mother to Ashley and this relationship is the one I loved most. The love they have for each other could be felt through the pages.

I vacillated between five stars and four stars because of the writing, but in the end I’m leaning more towards five because of how current this novel is even if it is set around thirty years ago, showing how important the fight the protestors are still doing in the United States’ streets is; and how powerful and strong this story is.

I was gifted this book by Simon & Schuster Kids and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I hold my hands up and say that there are topics within this book that I cannot completely understand due to the privilege provided to me by the colour of my skin. It is super important all readers pick up books that educate them on the lives and experiences of others.

The plot is based around the very real incident that happened to Rodney King in LA on March 3rd, 1991.

I’ve got to say this book packs a punch, the 368 pages a crammed full of relevant subjects, subjects that are still in our hearts now with the BLM movement. But not only is systemic racism, privilege and identity covered, it also provides one of the most accurate representations of the teenager experience I’ve read to date. It pulled me back to my own teenage years, experiencing those first mistakes as a mini adult and trying to understand who you are and where you want your life to take you but not actually knowing!

I think the representation of teenage life is one of the aspects of The Black Kids I loved the most. The complicated family dynamics that we’ve all experienced in some way, trying to protect your loved ones and the implications of ignoring problems and how they make things worse. The representation of friendships also hit home for me, from experiencing toxic friendships I found a lot of value in this book expressing conversations on when to leave friendships. People change and that’s ok. I cannot fault the authentic representation of teenage life and just for that aspect alone I’d recommend this book to YA readers, to bring attention to these everyday topics.

The book starts in 1992, during the trial of the Police Officers involved in the brutal beating of King, just before the verdict is announced. It’s here we are introduced to Ashley, a girl who has lived the “charmed life” with rich parents, attending a rich school, she’s a cheerleader and has 3 best girlfriends. Ashley is the only Black person in her friendship group and ends up biting her tongue at some of the racist things her friends say.

As I read I was glad Christina Hammonds Reed chose to start the book before the verdict, it gave a great opportunity to be introduced to Ashley and her world. It lets the reader finds their feet because as soon as the verdict is out LA turns to flames and it’s then we are pulled closer to Ashley as she experiences conflicts around her identity, her skin colour, her friends, her peers and her place in the world.

The plot is written from Ashley’s perspective and it’s written in such a way you genuinely feel like you are in Ashley’s head. I enjoyed the writing style, it really developed the world for me and took me to that time in LA’s history, it also makes you feel what Ashley feels and experience the emotions she does. I needed tissues near the end!

For me, Ashley is a complex character, raised in an environment where almost everyone is white, It’s in this environment we experience the privilege experienced by the White kids compared the minority Black kids. And Ashley feels torn between both sides having been brought up similarly to the rich White kids but still experiencing the microaggressions of her peer and prejudice of the rest of the world. There’s some Regina George/Mean Girls vibes from one character. I enjoyed Ashley’s development throughout the book and seeing her grow as she approaches the end of High School and processes everything that happens to and around her.

When the verdict is given for the Police Officers LA goes to hell and it is during those few days that we follow Ashley on her journey of self-discovery as not only a Black kid but also, as herself. I really enjoyed this read, I can’t comment on the ending, because spoilers but the ending appeased me. Sometimes with YA Contemporary plots the ending can be all about tying everything in a lovely convenient bow and this wasn’t that.

The only downside for me is that because there is so much focus on character’s and world building that the beginning can feel a little slow.

Despite the slow start the writing does an exceptional job in pulling you into Ashley’s world, so I understand the amount of effort that takes can lead to a slower first half but this book is worth it. In that first half you learn and adjust to the environment ready for the second half.

Overall, this book is very well written and I super enjoyed reading it. It’s hard to talk about the plot without giving loads away and I’ve tried super hard to avoid spoilers. It hits so many important topics and pulls you straight back to your teen years (if you are “adult” like me). I will be recommending it.

‘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?’

Set against the backdrop of the 1992 LA Rodney King riots, in The Black Kids we follow high school senior Ashley as she tries to navigate college applications, teenage gossip and being one of the few black kids at her school. With the news forcing her to think about her own place in the world, and where she fits into it as a privileged black kid, Ash goes on a journey of self-discovery and reflection. Along the way lifelong friendships are broken and new ones forged as Ashley finds out what her parents have tried to protect her from her whole life, and what it truly means to be Black in a White privileged world.

I really loved the writing in this. There were so many passages that I highlighted because they really resonated with me or made me think about race and my own complacency. Ashley’s friends often make throw away comments about race, or make risky decisions that put Ashley in danger without a second thought. They don’t realise that if Ashley is arrested, the outcome would be a lot different for her than the slap on the wrist they would probably get. Ashley constantly has wear this fake face every day in order to survive. Be the good girl, be the smart girl, be what everyone else wants you to be. But not too smart, or too pretty. It’s exhausting and you see this come out in Ashley. She really doesn’t know who she is until she starts to explore her own family history, and start to talk to people who understand what she’s going through. I especially enjoyed her relationship with LeShawn. On a surface level he opens Ashley’s eyes to the world around her and what it’s really like. But he also shows her that she doesn’t need to be anyone else but herself. Her relationship with Lana is much the same, although I do think she was underused and as a result her side story didn’t hit quite as hard as it could have done.

Ashley’s inner monologue is also very snarky and funny, which immediately makes her incredibly relatable. The way she describes Michael’s depth, comparing it to a lake or a paddling pool is something I would say. Her interactions with her sister further highlight just how witty Ashley is. When Jo states that she’s now a communist and she’s handing out leaflets at the riots with her new husband, Ashley’s first impression is that her sister is going through some kind of midlife crisis in her twenties. The two aren’t as close as they could be, and I think a lot of that is due to Jo thinking that Ashley is very complacent in her life and the way she’s treated. Jo is passionate about furthering black rights, and is very vocal about everything she does and the injustices she sees every day. But her recklessness can lead to terrible circumstances. Ashley just isn’t this spontaneous or rash.

I also really liked the setting for this. Not being American, or black, I had little to no knowledge of the 1992 LA riots and I thought this did an excellent job of not only bringing a part of forgotten history to life, but making me really interested in the topic. By including news footage on the radio or on the tv during important scenes with Ashley, her family and friends, the riots remain a constant reminder of what is happening outside and how it’s directly affecting Ashley. It adds to the overriding tension of the story, and brings the reader back to the important issues as hand. On top of this we are also told about older riots and looting of black businesses, highlighting the fact that nothing has changed. It brought to mind the 1921 Tulsa race massacre, which has also been conveniently swept under the carpet of American history. I really liked the fact that this story not only managed to move me, but also educate me at the same time.

My only negative is that I thought the story itself jumps around a little too much chronologically for my liking. We get flashbacks all over the place, from various points in Ashley’s life, which sometimes made me very confused as to what was going on. It managed to throw me out of the narrative a few times, and did affect my overall enjoyment. However, I do think this is a minor issue compared to the wonderful story overall.

When I think about what is going on right now with the Black Lives Matter movement and the horrific murder of George Floyd, I can’t help feeling that the ending is incredibly bitter sweet. The end is so hopeful, so full of love and understanding and finding yourself and your family and your people. Yet when you compare 1992 to now, nothing has changed. To make things better, to make things right - these teenagers hoped to change the world. But in my eyes, there’s been no progress. This is such an incredible book, that everyone can gain so much from and makes an excellent starting point to further non fiction research on the LA 1992 riots and beyond.

Set against a backdrop of a burning Los Angeles in 1992, this book follows Ashley as she reaches the end of high school.

With the real-life story of the Rodney King trial and subsequent riots in LA as the background of the story, Ashley comes to a series of realisations about herself, her friends and her family as she navigates her way through being a young, black woman in America.

Chilling and poignant given the current state of affairs in 2020, it's deeply upsetting to realise that not much has changed in the almost 30 years since the real life events of the book.

A very worthy read.

The Black Kids by Christina Hammonds Reed is set against the backdrop of the 1992 Los Angeles riots which erupted when 4 police officers were acquitted of the assault of black man Rodney King despite the attack being caught on camera.
The story follows Ashley; a wealthy black teenager living a privileged life in LA who has never experienced the struggles of the many black people living in America. As the riots unfold we journey with Ashley as she sees first hand not just the inequalities but the injustices that black people experience and finally begins to understand that adult life will be different for her as one of 'The Black Kids'.
The book is really well written and easy to read with lots of musical references that took me back to my own teenage years. The authors description of LA at the time is so vivid that I could almost feel the heat from the riots flames as I read. The recent murder of George Floyd by police officers in Minneapolis makes this story all the more relevant and I would highly recommend it. Thanks to Netgalley, Simon & Schuster and Christina Hammonds Reed for the ARC.

Ashley finding her way of finding herself and the culture they story was written in very emotional and realistically.
Overall do read the book.!

Plot:
Set against the backdrop of the 1992 Rodney King riots, Ashley, a wealthy Black teen, learns that no matter the wealth and status of her family she will always be one of the Black kids. With the acquittal of Rodney King’s murderers comes burning unrest and riots across LA and questions of class, race and identity for Ashley as her sister is drawn into the violent riots and her friends help spread a rumour with the potential to ruin the life of one of her fellow Black kids.

My thoughts:
This book is incredibly topical this Summer following the murder of George Floyd (which was incredibly similar to the violence against Rodney King - multiple white police officers being caught on video beating a Black man) and the ensuing Black Lives Matter protests. It’s an incredibly important exploration of race and class and also a fun and engaging read. Also can we talk about that cover? GORGEOUS!

This book is set during the time of the Rodney King riots but it’s very much a coming of age story focused on Ashley’s character and her identity, family and friends. We see her struggles with her all white peers and their treatment of her as a Black girl, she is constantly surrounded with casual racism and jokes she has no choice but to bear. The book also explores the ways her family’s privilege has taken away her connections to her extended family, history and fellow Black kids and the limitations and dangers of sheltering someone too much.

I loved the stream of consciousness narrative style and found it incredibly effective with the context of exploring Ashley’s feelings and identity. It felt personal and created a real connection with her. The writing in general was great and I felt that it really captured the time period (though I wasn’t yet born so don’t take my word on it) and created an authentic voice. I also loved how the tone changed throughout, from the light and happiness of the start to more serious and often negative as the riots progressed and Ashley began having more realisations and was more personally affected by the riots. This book was incredibly honest and did not shy away from exploring difficult subjects. Most prominently, there were many instances of racism both remembered and in the present day which affected the characters at different ages, and the devastating lifelong effects of this were explored.

Overall, this book tackled several important themes with incredible sensitivity and authenticity. I would highly recommend this not just for those themes and its discussions around race and racism but also as a coming of age novel about family, friends and finding your voice. This was well written and expertly told, gripping and thought provoking.

Oof this book packs a punch.
In the span of these pages, this book not only tackles subjects such as systematic racism, privilege, and identity, but it also presents one of the most authentic depictions of teenage life that I've read. The complicated family dynamics that come from wanting to protect those you love while acknowledging how ignoring problems can only make things worse. The conversations about knowing when it's best to leave a friendship behind, instead of merely settling for what's comfortable. Knowing what's worth handing effort to, even if it initially seems more energy than necessary. All of these things, told through a tale of the good and the bad parts of teenage life, really struck me as an authentic representation without my fantasy-loving-heart finding it tedious to follow. It all just worked.

I have to give a massive appreciation to the ending - no spoilers, of course. All I'll say is I'm highly impressed it managed to give me the satisfied "everything will be ok in the end" feeling while notably not being typically ok. Things aren't wrapped up in a sweet little bowtie and served on a platter for your amusement. It feels real, and while the way various strands of this book ended can't necessarily be considered happy, it did still manage to feel like an ending of sorts.

I really enjoyed this book. I can see myself pushing it into the hands of many. I sincerely hope this reaches the same level of hype and acclaim as most popular YA contemporaries, because this is one of the strongest I've read by far.

This book covers so many important topics. There’s so much more to this than focusing on the riots, and I particularly liked the way the author shared Ashley’s friendships with us. They felt so authentic and how complex they can be. I found it hard to keep up with the timeline jumps, however this could be the arc copy and how it reads on my e reader.

I don’t read a huge amount of YA (far less than I should!) but I loved The Hate U Give and the premise of this combined with the ‘perfect if you loved THUG’ taglines and general buzz about it really pulled me in.

Ashley is well-off, spoilt (by her own admission) and black. Until recently, the latter hasn’t played much part in her thoughts or her daily life – her best friends are rich, white kids; her home is in a rich, white area and her life has almost always been as theirs is (although, as we see when she starts to reflect on it, perhaps it hasn’t and she’s just chosen to ignore the more casually racist behaviours around her).

We’re told in the synopsis online that

…everything changes one afternoon in April, when four police 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.

but it’s not quite this clear cut.

The LA riots of the 1990s (that began when the officers who beat up Rodney King were acquitted) do form the backdrop to the novel and they do become increasingly intrinsic to Ashley’s choices, feelings and actions, but their effects – on Ashley and more broadly – are not quite so quick and defined as this.

The book begins with Ashley herself admitting that she wasn’t all that bothered by the case to begin with; she and her friends are on the cusp of Summer, graduation and college. Life is a lazy time of skipping school, going out and having fun as they all prepare to go their own ways.

On the surface, it’s a stereotypical scenario – well-off teens skipping school to sunbathe, swim and smoke, mess about with boys/girls and generally enjoy themselves without thinking too much about anyone or anything else.

However, it’s as we spend so much time just ‘hanging out’ with Ashley and her friends in this way that we see – both in their interactions and her memories of growing up there with them – that we see the casual, incidental racism embedded in their lives. Little comments, ‘jokes’ and assumptions made; the knowledge that when they’re stopped by the police for trespassing she’s probably the reason and definitely the one at risk.

However, they’re her friends. They don’t mean anything by it. It’s just how things are. It’s okay.

Or is it?

Gradually Ashley begins to see the racism around her, amplified by the riots, and the contrast between her sheltered, protected life and the lives of the other black kids in her school and in neighbourhoods being looted, burned and vandalised.

It’s likely we’ll see a flux of books about racism given the current climate, but this one especially tackles it somehow subtly and frankly all at once and really addresses how larger events that seemingly have “nothing to do with us” can suddenly feel much closer to home.

In light of the fact that nearly 30 years on, as Black Lives Matters protests continue and we still have police officers kneeling on black necks and abusing their stop and search rights, we don’t seem to have changed at all.

The more things change, the more they remain the same.

There are so many layers to this book, so many clever ideas and angles and so much to love about it that it’s hard to review without a sprawling essay full of tangents and spoilers.

It’s less a book I want to review and more a book I really want to talk about and share thoughts on.

So, I will instead keep it short(ish!) and say just this – it is superbly written with complexity, understanding and excellent characters and relationships.

It takes quite something to take a group of wealthy, spoilt brats and give them depth, but that is exactly what we get here. It doesn’t necessarily make them likeable, but it does make them believable and understandable.

Ashley herself is judgmental and self-absorbed (to begin with at least) but it is as she learns from her mistakes and opens herself up to possibilities, people outside her friendship group and begins to consider the wider world that we see her grow.

Her sister Jo and ‘nanny’ Lucia are both fantastic characters too who bring much in the way of context, contrast and social commentary.

Ultimately, this is a book about racism, but it is also a fantastic coming of age story, a realistic and sometimes difficult examination of family and an honest look at friendships – their evolution, their end and the beginnings of new ones. And the themes interplay brilliantly.

I feel like I’ve not done this book justice here, but it is a gripping, thought-provoking, complex and believable read.

It also references some awesome music and I very much need an accompanying The Black Kids soundtrack now!

4.5/5

For clarity, the only reason that I docked half a star is because of something that the main character does which didn't sit right with me.

Otherwise, I genuinely loved this book. It is by no means a book with an entirely happy ending or one with any real sense of being wrapped up completely, but that's kind of what makes it perfect. I think having the sense of perfect ease and happiness would have defeated the purpose of the book and the messages it shares. The Black Kids asks so many questions about what it means to be Black at any time of your life, let alone during a time of heightened racial profiling and police brutality. It asks us why we hold on to lifelong friendships when we know how toxic they are and how damaging they are to our sense of self and identity.

I'm not Black, but I found it difficult and uncomfortable to read the (numerous) scenes depicting racial profiling and police brutality. I think Christina Hammonds Reed handled the topic perfectly, balancing a sense of cautious storytelling with this need to tell a story so important and so relevant. But this book isn't just about Black trauma, it's also about Black living; about friendships forged, romantic relationships, platonic relationships, scholarships, college applications and prom.

I really loved this book. I don't want to be that person who compares every Black book to The Hate U Give because it was so revolutionary, but it really is very similar. The most obvious difference would be that our main character doesn't get involved in the protesting, she's more so on the periphery looking in while her older sister takes a more active role in it.

Trigger/content warnings: racism, graphic depictions of racially charged brutality, police abuse/neglect/brutality, recreational drug use, alcoholism, parental neglect/child abuse, cheating, homophobia, cancer, AIDS, bullying, mention of attempted suicide, white people using the N-Word.

Thank you to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster UK for providing me with an e-copy in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.