Pagers were the thing to have (my parents never let me have one), Boyz to Men was being played everywhere, and teenage pregnancy was happening at a high rate. This story is about a teen boy turning into a father too fast – and honestly, I grew up in this period that the story is set.It’s an enjoyable reading experience, and it’s almost soothing even though the topics in Concrete Rose are anything but calming. Her writing is so good! Once I start reading, I feel my body just settling into her words, into the story and there I am watching things unfold for Maverick in real time, at least that’s what it feels like for me. Angie Thomas is a must-read author for me.He’ll have to figure out for himself what it really means to be a man. Loyalty, revenge, and responsibility threaten to tear Mav apart, especially after the brutal murder of a loved one. When King Lord blood runs through your veins, though, you can’t just walk away.  In a world where he’s expected to amount to nothing, maybe Mav can prove he’s different. So when he’s offered the chance to go straight, he takes it. But it’s not so easy to sling dope, finish school, and raise a child. Suddenly he has a baby, Seven, who depends on him for everything. Until, that is, Maverick finds out he’s a father. Life’s not perfect, but with a fly girlfriend and a cousin who always has his back, Mav’s got everything under control. With this money he can help his mom, who works two jobs while his dad’s in prison. As the son of a former gang legend, Mav does that the only way he knows how: dealing for the King Lords. If there’s one thing seventeen-year-old Maverick Carter knows, it’s that a real man takes care of his family. International phenomenon Angie Thomas revisits Garden Heights seventeen years before the events of The Hate U Givein this searing and poignant exploration of Black boyhood and manhood. Title: Concrete Rose (The Hate U Give, #0.5)Ĭategories: Young Adult, Contemporary, Coming of Age, Family, Fatherhood, Gangs

Between Sisters by Cathy Kelly