“The world doesn’t let black children be children for very long.”
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Ashley is a girl of wealth and privilege living in LA in the 90’s. She is one of a handful of Black kids who all come from different backgrounds and aren’t really friends. We start with Ashley’s life with her mostly white, privileged friends where we see how often she needs to suppress her blackness and deal with their frequent microaggressions. Then the Rodney King riots happen and everything changes. She learns how important it is to embrace your identity, advocate for her people and understand her own family history.
I liked Ashley, she rang true as a teen, who made some questionable choices but learned from them and evolved. What I really appreciated was the depth of all of the side characters and how every interaction added to the story and helped give this story a rich community. Definitely went above and beyond my expectations for a YA novel with a cartoon cover, turns out you shouldn’t always judge a book by its cover….
I read this when it was featured as a free read by Simon Teen on RivetedLit.com last month. Do you buy or borrow most of your books?
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