Christina Hammonds Reed

I loved The Johnson Four. Yes, it's long, but I enjoyed every minute of the read. Yes, not everything is tied up neatly at the end, but that's a basic feature of day-to-day life.

More than anything, I loved this book for its characters. The Johnson Three are kids trying to make it in the music business. They sing as a team, but each of the boys--Roman, Rocco, and River--comes across as an individual in his own right from the book's beginning. The reader accompanies them from childhood to show more middle age--I couldn't help but want the best for them, although my sense of what that best might be evolved over the course of the novel. These are the kind of characters that come across as so genuine that a reader can't help but hope for them, fret for them.

Running a close second for me is the strand of magical realism that runs through the book. There are ghosts. Some people can see them, some can't. The Johnsons are among those who can, and early in the novel the family is joined by the ghost of a child who was lynched well before any of the Johnsons were born. Christmas, the ghost, is a perpetual five years old. As a child he found occasional situations in which he lived with people who cared about him, but he's never had a "real" family and desperately wants the Johnsons to be that family.

If you're up for a read that explores the complexity of families, that asks question about life and afterlife, I have every confidence you will love this book the way I did.

I received a free electronic review copy of this title via Edelweiss; the opinions are my own. show less

Ashley Bennett has lived a luxurious life in an upper class Los Angeles neighborhood. However, as the school year winds down and a local man, Rodney King is murdered, Ashley is forced to reevaluate how she views herself and her peers. At first, Ashley the Rodney King murder is barely a blip on Ashley's radar, although after the verdict is delivered and the protests and riots begin, Ashley begins to see a difference in the way she and her family are treated. She is not just any girl at her show more high school, she is one of the black kids.
The Black Kids is so on point and perfectly written that I want everyone to read this book immediately. Honest, poignant, and driven, the writing had me hooked from the beginning; it was eerie how the events of the very first chapter seemed to perfectly echo the current events of the USA. I liked that Ashley's character was not the typical 'black kid' of the time and had to experience the consequences of the Rodney King murder to realize the truth of how her race effects her daily life. Through Ashley's eyes I experienced the blatant racism and sexism that was as rampant in 1992 as it is now. The prose also perfectly captured the wonders of being a teen along with the nostalgia of the early 1990's. Ashley's journey had great revelations about racism and the weight of representing her race in a white world, as well as understanding of poverty, friendship and growing up. The consequences of the Rodney King verdict and the subsequent riots were a turning point in Ashley's view of herself and her life, opening up her eyes and my own to see just how long people of color have been vigilantly fighting against systemic racism in the USA and highlighting the cycle of racism, unjust killing, protest and unrest until we put a bandage on the current issue until we forget about what caused the previous issue. The Black Kids is a must-read for everyone who wants to better understand the world we live in.
This book was received for free in return for an honest review. show less

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 show more 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. show less

This is a powerful and emotional coming-of-age novel set during the 1992 Los Angeles riots. Ashley Bennett is a privileged Black teenager living in a mostly white world, focused on prom, college plans, and beach days with friends. But when the LAPD officers who beat Rodney King are acquitted and the city erupts in protest, Ashley’s world starts to shift. Suddenly, she’s no longer just one of the girls—she’s one of the Black kids.

As tensions rise around her, Ashley makes some choices show more that hurt the people closest to her—including a rumor that puts a classmate’s future at risk and a betrayal that damages a longtime friendship. Through it all, she’s forced to question her identity, her privilege, and what it means to stand for something. Reed’s writing is sharp, emotional, and honest, with moments of humor and heartbreak woven throughout. show less