The Black Kids

Starred review from July 1, 2020

Gr 9 Up-Ashley Bennett is almost done with her senior year of high school when the VERDICT in the Rodney King trial comes out, shaking up her halcyon life. In Los Angeles in 1992, Ashley is the lone Black girl among her group of white friends who don't understand that she has to behave better than them to be seen as just as good. Jo, her "troubled older sister," gets caught up in the injustice of the VERDICT and is drawn to the riots, perplexing and worrying Ashley and her family. Stuck between worlds, with her affluent Black family in their white neighborhood, and still being taken care of by Lucia, her Guatemalan nanny and second mother, Ashley isn't sure where she fits in. While bigger issues are at play, she still has personal problems, keeping a secret from her friends and accidentally spreading a rumor that LaShawn, one the few Black kids at her school and the star basketball player, stole a pair of Jordans during the riots. Incredibly nuanced, this story depicts realistic characters dealing with their own desires, while not forgetting the difficult circumstances in which they're living. Family history is also skillfully incorporated into the plot, connecting all the threads. This realistic fiction debut is a snapshot of a moment when people wanted to fight back against oppression and police brutality, and took action as the lines between right and wrong became blurred. VERDICT An excellent addition to all teen collections with a relatable main character who will lead readers through this heated moment in time.-Rebecca Greer, Hillsborough County P.L. Coop., FL

Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2020
The final weeks of high school for a wealthy, black teen are marked by the Los Angeles riots. Ashley and her family are well off--she lives in a large house, has a nanny, and attends a private school with little diversity in the student body. Although there are 12 other black students at her school, she doesn't hang out with them. Her friends are rich, white, and free with microaggressions. During the last weeks of senior year, their primary concerns are dates for prom, hanging out, and waiting for college acceptance letters. On TV, the trial of four of the police officers who beat Rodney King plays incessantly. When the officers are acquitted and the city erupts in violence, Ashley's sister joins in the protests, her uncle desperately tries to save her grandmother's business in the heart of the hot zone, and Ashley struggles to make sense of it all. Before the incident of police brutality toward Rodney King and subsequent lack of justice, Ashley had not explored what it meant to be a young black woman in the social sphere she was traveling in and in the world. Unfortunately, despite this catalyst she remains an underdeveloped character. Even with the memorable setting and explosive moment in time, the novel's struggles with pacing weaken the tension. However, the explorations of race and socio-economic privilege are valuable and will speak to readers who have not previously confronted or thought about these issues. A timely exploration of '90s Los Angeles during racial upheaval and one girl's awakening. (Fiction. 14-18)

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Starred review from August 24, 2020
Unfolding in the six days following the 1992 acquittal of the police officers who beat Rodney King, Reed’s poetic, layered, and seamlessly intersectional debut depicts the coming-to-consciousness of sheltered Ashley Bennett, one of the few Black students at a wealthy, largely white Los Angeles high school. Though Ashley encounters racism, she’s mostly concerned with fitting in with her white childhood friends; her college-dropout sister, Jo, meanwhile, spray paints Communist slogans on the scarred city. Ashley becomes aware of her own racism after accidentally starting a rumor that LaShawn, a Black basketball player on scholarship, may have looted his new sneakers. Getting to know LaShawn is just part of an education that includes a scary brush with the police, as well as long untold family stories about Black Wall Street and intergenerational depression. Although the novel skews a bit lengthy, Reed’s sharp cultural observations make it a pleasurable read, and the world she creates is notably difficult, complex, and funny. Ages 14–up. Agent: David Doerrer, Abrams Artists Agency.

Starred review from September 1, 2020
Grades 9-12 *Starred Review* Reed's probing debut novel explores how wealth, race, class, and privilege intersect against the tumultuous backdrop of the Rodney King Riots. Ashley Bennett is a Black teen from an affluent family living in Los Angeles in 1992. As such, her only concern is having a perfect beachy summer until the Rodney King beating, protests, and riots thrust her life and friendships into turmoil. As the world around her splinters, Ashley must figure out whom she truly is, whom her real friends are, and how to stand proud as a Black girl in America. In Ashley, Reed gives readers an authentic, flawed, and confused character who undergoes considerable personal growth as she comes to important realizations about her identity, her aspirations, and, notably the person she is not. Brilliantly woven into this deeply personal narrative arc are explorations of police brutality, racial inequality, and upheavals within the Black community as a whole. Intra-family struggles and relationships are also a central theme of the book, and it doesn't shy away from discussions of colorism and generational trauma. This story may be a work of historical fiction, but its relevance to today's social and political events adds to its eye-opening power, making it a novel that demands to be read.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)