Los Angeles, 1992
Ashley Bennett and her friends are living the charmed life. It’s the end of high school 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.
But 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.
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?
Christina Hammonds Reed holds an MFA from the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts. A native of the Los Angeles area, her work has previously appeared in the Santa Monica Review and One Teen Story. The Black Kids is her first novel. She is happiest with sand in her toes and the sun on her skin.
This is a young adult, coming-of-age bookx set in LA during the 1992 Rodney King riots. This isn’t my usual genre but looked interesting so I thought I would give it a try. It covers many issues aside from the obvious race issues it also covers growing up, relationships, friendships, privilege and identity.
“People glorify protest when white kids do it, when it’s chic, frustrated Parisian kids or British coal miners or suffragettes smashing windows and throwing firebombs and inequality.”
Ashely is a lovely character who has been well protected by har family, they have carefully chosen her school and the area they live in to ensure her safety and wellbeing. Her parents have built a façade as a model black family, with wealth and privilege but this begins to crumble after the riots. Ashley is largely unaware of current events and the riots but becomes more involved and Ashley changes from being one of the girls to one of the black kids. Her sisters’ insistence on being more involved in the riots changes her positioning and perspective as well.
Ashley begins as a very ‘normal’ teenager with her life full of homework, friendships, parties, school and family, she is very relatable and makes mistakes like everyone else which is always nice to see. Through the riots and changes in her family splitting apart and coming back together again she learns what it really means to be Africa-American.
“if there’s not justice for one of us, there’s no justice for any of us.”
This was a really interesting read; I learnt a lot and it led me to read more about the Rodney King Riots which I was previously unaware of. Its eye opening and thought-provoking. Following recent events its infuriating how little things have changed in the past 40 years since these riots, history keeps repeating itself and the racial inequality and injustice needs to end.
Thanks to the Author, Publisher and Netgalley for an Advanced Review Copy (ARC) in exchange for an honest review.
| Title | The Black Kid |
| Author | Christina Hammond Reed |
| Series | N/A |
| Format | eARC |
| Page Count | 367 Pages |
| Genre | Young Adult |
| Publisher | Simon and Shuster |
| Release Date | 4th August 2020 |
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