Black kids blogspot download

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 conve I was sent a copy of this book via Netgalley to review. 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. It's set in the early 90s against the backdrop of the Rodney King riots and our heroine is an upper class African American teenager who doesn't really feel connected to her Black heritage at all-- until other people kind of force her to confront it by boxing her into stereotype after stereotype.

There was just so much to love about this book. Obviously the 90s fashions and cultural references were near and dear to my heart, but Hammonds Reed also does such a great job talking about things like intersectionality, cultural identity, taking a stand, dealing with toxic friendships, owning up to your own mistakes, and growing up. It's a coming of age story as well as a snapshot of history that is, sadly, still very much relevant today.

You can't really shrug and say, "Well, at least things are better now" because when it comes to the treatment of people of color, our society is still dealing very much with infrastructural racism on a pretty large scale.

Ashley is such a great heroine. I loved how she was spoiled and difficult and made bad choices without the author making her out to be a bad person. She was just a flawed teenager with a ton of stuff on her plate, which is honestly one of my favorite kinds of heroines.

I also loved how she starts out kind of timid and passive and ends up totally changing. The character development was fantastic and by the time you get to the end, you really feel how much she's grown as a person without being told. I also loved her family, her family history, and her new set of friends once she ditches the toxic ones. I'm honestly shocked it isn't as popular because I think it's almost as good and would make a fantastic movie with an amazing soundtrack, too.

View all 5 comments. I'm so glad I picked this up. Set in Los Angeles during the riots following the Rodney King trial, this story is poignant and brings to light important societal issues in an accessible way. This book is YA and would no doubt be an excellent read for younger readers, however as an adult I enjoyed it very much too. This was one of my most anticipated reads for , but I put it off for a long time and part of me is glad that I did. This was a solid book, but it wasn't as enjoyable for me as I expected.

The Black Kids is set against the backdrop of the L. Riots after the acquittal of the police officers who beat Rodney King. The main character, Ashley, attempts to ignore the impact this has on the city, but quickly learns that regardless of whether she ignores it or not, it will change her life. It w This was one of my most anticipated reads for , but I put it off for a long time and part of me is glad that I did.

It would be foolish to say that this book isn't unique because it is. There aren't any YA books that I know of that tackle this specific time of history. I was excited to pick this book up because of the fact that it reminds people that police brutality isn't a product of the 21st century. It's been happening for an extremely long time. However, the trouble that I had with this book came in the form of the main character Ashley. She's not likeable. While it's interesting to see the idea of Blackness tackled from a place of wealth, an unlikeable main character makes a story hard to sell.

It's clear that Ashley has been sheltered It's not that she's not "Black enough" she knows her history , but she's extremely naive and it's frustrating. Her friends are racist and she's so non-chalant about it. She does two horrible things in the book that impact multiple characters and there is never any explanation as to why she does those things.

I wasn't sure if it was supposed to be the catalyst to the conflict between Ashley and her White friends, but it wasn't executed well.

This book does delve heavily into identity which is important especially because Ashley does end up recognizing the weight of intersectionality identifying as Black and as a woman ; however, I think that sometimes it gets lost in the narrative. While Reed's writing was great, the way that this book was structured made the story itself quite jumbled.

Nevertheless, I do feel like Reed was able to accomplish some interesting things with this book. It is a reminder that wealth is some cases isn't always just a privilege. It can simultaneously be a privilege and a hindrance. Reed was also able to create some really intriguing side characters.

For example, Ashley's sister was a character that I would have loved to explore further. Her perception of Blackness and the role that it should have played during the riots has some complex consequences.

As I stated before, this is a solid debut book. I think that a lot of readers read this during the summer of so the impact of it then was timely and really woke some people up to the "unknown legacy" of police brutality. It's a book that I would recommend people to pick up for its unique themes, I just wasn't a fan of the characters or the pacing of the plot.

ARC received in exchange for an honest review. With the news forcing her to think about her own place in the world, and where she fits into it as a privil ARC received in exchange for an honest review.

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 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. I especially enjoyed her relationship with LeShawn.

Her interactions with her sister further highlight just how witty Ashley is. 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. I also really liked the setting for this. Not being American, or black, I had little to no knowledge of the 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.

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 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.

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. The end is so hopeful, so full of love and understanding and finding yourself and your family and your people. Yet when you compare to now, nothing has changed. To make things better, to make things right - these teenagers hoped to change the world.

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 riots and beyond. I enjoyed this book so much, especially its latter half! The novel follows Ashley Bennett, a privileged Black teenager going to high school in Los Angeles, California with a predominantly white friend group.

However, the Los Angeles uprising begins to escalate after the acquittal of four police offers who beat an unarmed Black man, Rodney King, with excess I enjoyed this book so much, especially its latter half! However, the Los Angeles uprising begins to escalate after the acquittal of four police offers who beat an unarmed Black man, Rodney King, with excessive force.

Throughout the novel we see Ashley grow even as she struggles and makes mistakes in her journey. As you may sense from the above paragraph, a lot goes on in this novel, and for the first half I felt unsure whether Christina Reed would tie it all together in a satisfying way. Reed manages to address all of these topics in a meaningful way though without minimizing their nuances. I got a bit teary-eyed in the final scenes between Ashley and her sister Jo, as well as Ashley and her caretaker Lucia.

We love this positive representation of teen boys of color! Yay for having more options than solely Sarah Dessen. Jul 22, Christina Marie rated it liked it. My rating for this one is complex. Because this story is centered around my hometown when I was 5 years old.

I knew going into this that I would have a different perspective than I do most books. All of that to say My feelings and thoughts are just incredibly complex. I will say that I liked almost everyone else in the book, except the main character. I DO think people should read this book when it comes out. It is definitely a discussion worthy read. As it happens so often lately, this book was eye-opening. Also saddening, as well as a real wake up call. But most of all a reminder of how much there is still to do.

The balance between the historic background of the Rodney King Riots and the daily life of a Black teenage girl and her family in Los Angeles struck a cord.

The author found a great balance of powerful narrative, and daily life of a Black teenage girl and her family in Los Angeles during the Rodney King Riots. The similarities between Los Angeles and the current situation in was crushing. I felt that not much has changed since then. And can only recommend it. BTW the audiobook was very well done!!! We keep surviving.

Usually I mix up genres a little to keep things fresh, but I generally have zero problems starting a book right after finishing the previous one. It took me a solid day to figure out what was going to be coming up next for me after finishing this, however. But then I read some real good stuff like Uncomfortable Conversations and my firm started posting more about inclusivity and diversity and this queued up the morning after a guilty verdict FINALLY was achieved in a blatant case of murder caught on tape so I put my big girl pants on and downloaded this.

And holy shit am I so glad I did. Not only can this author write her ass off, but the setting taking place so close and yet so far away from the uprising due to location as well as income level was just brilliant. If you know me you know I love a good coming of age story and young adult fiction that can be appreciated by us oldsters as well as the target demographic and this just checked every single box. This will easily go down as one of the best books I read in All the Starzzzzz.

Aug 08, Olivia added it. I don't know. I think this story can especially resonate with Black kids who can relate to the likes of Ashley Bennet or Lashawn Johnson. The wealthy or poor- in Ashley's case, wealthy Black kids attending predominately white scho "I can't tell if loneliness is being black, or being young, or being a girl, or if Lucia's right and I need new friends.

The wealthy or poor- in Ashley's case, wealthy Black kids attending predominately white schools. And this book touches on other subjects in addition to the riots like class, Black Wall Street, etc. Here is the thing- I had major pro's and con's specifically with the writing. Especially with the first third or so, I really wasn't a fan, but at other moments some of the writing was beautifully or perfectly said.

This takes place during the LA 92' riots and mostly follows the timeline of those events from right before the verdict. But we often get kind of flashback moments from the main character, Ashley. And so there was something about the pacing that was off. Can we get more on Ashley's experiences? Where exactly is this story going??? And some of these metaphors are kinda There were many sentences and exchanges that I was underlining and highlighting wanting to say a big YES.

The descriptions of microaggressions and sometimes straight out blatant racist remarks by her friends- like when Ashley first 'realizes' she is Black or different from her peers when her friend makes a racial comment. Or how Jo would talk about what the riots meant to her or how Ashley describes her feelings of shame, guilt, etc. Also, LaShawn is a new favorite. I think his character is great and has great moments and things to say and just-yeah, big fan over here!

And Lana too- honestly, a lot of the side characters that played a big role in Ashley's story were all pretty great minus her friends. In the end, this is another story I am glad is being told, and I think many will enjoy. I had issues with the writing at times which held back how much I personally enjoyed this one, but it get's bonus points for the areas that were spot on and poignant. If the synopsis had your attention, give it a read View 1 comment.

I'm also a book blogger The anticipated read curse strikes again dear friends, and this time it took me a good way through the book to finally work out why it wasn't working for me. The problem I had was with the main character herself.

She's a quiet observer, s I'm also a book blogger The anticipated read curse strikes again dear friends, and this time it took me a good way through the book to finally work out why it wasn't working for me. Now, turn up the volume but just make sure your bed springs are well oiled. Wisdom from RJ at Tuesday, January 01, Post a Comment.

Tuesday, January 1, Black Kids. No comments:. You may not agree with her examples of why racism is a hot issue in our country e. Trump, the imprisonment of a high percentage of black people, etc. I read this book to understand a segment of our society that sees racism as a bigger issue than I do.

My answer is Not yet, but it could be. I remain hopeful. Love the updates to this powerful book! I hope every college student reads this book no matter their race or ethnicity. I wish I had had this book as a racial minority at a predominantly white undergraduate institution. The framework Dr. Tatum utilized to explain racial identity development would have helped me immensely by giving me a language for what I experienced.

Decades after its first publication, I still reference this book and often share it as I speak and write publicly about issues of race in PWIs. A must read! I reads fast for me and really helps you to think about what has and what has not changed in all these years. The book arrived very fast. The work of Dr. Tatum should be required reading for every teacher and student alike. There is no excuse for ignorance of racial identity development when such an amazing resource is available.

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