The Black Kids

In my personal challenge to read historical fiction books not set in WWII, the 92 LA riots was a topic I chose because it interested me. While I don't remember it, there are many people I know who remember the violence that those days and nights wrought for the people of Los Angeles. It is also a landmark case in terms of one of the first instances, on a national scale, where home video was used to tape police brutality. This made for an interesting topic to study in narrative form. So I was interested to understand how Christina Hammonos Reed would handle such a topic, especially in the light of the killing of George Floyd. Sadly, despite this book's deep exploration of race in the early 90s, there are several things that keep me from loving this book.

This book is about our main character Ashley Bennett who goes to a predominately white prep school in LA in 1992. For the most part, she hasn't had to think about her race in a community that is so diverse as LA. Instead, she has had to worry about applying to Stanford for college next year, and her wayward sister, who always seems to be doing something she shouldn't be doing. That all changes, however, when Rodney King is seen on national television being beaten by several police officers. This makes our main character not only explore her relationship with her friends differently but her race as well. This then kicks into high gear when the LA riots begin, and she worries for the safety of herself and her family.

This sounds like an interesting idea, right? Well, sadly, there are a few things that hold this novel back in terms of using this topic to its full advantage.

One element that makes this book a chore to read would be the stream of consciousness style of writing. This style is hallmarked by putting down anything that comes into the character's brain. This includes memories of times past triggered by an event in the present. While this was not an extreme example of the style (such as say anything by William Falkner), it still made it difficult to read. Most people may think this is a real exploration of a teenager's brain, but I just find it difficult to follow as we jump from one topic to another seemingly at random. Couple this with the purple prose writing, and this book can seem like a slog to get through.

Then there is the bare bones exploration of the Rodney King trial and riots themselves. Much of the narrative is devoted to teenage angst, such as who likes who, and the family drama of a wayward older sister. The historical topic only gets a brief mention throughout most of the book. This is until the last third when it seems to come to prominence. This makes a study of the time period feel inconsistent, with only the barest glance at the trial and riots, which is not what I signed up to read.

This all makes for a book that I will barely remember a month from now. I think that you may like this book if you can work with the main character and her personal journey of self-identity within the context of the riots, but for me, this was mostly a waste of time. I give this book a two out of five.