Caught Up

by Amir Abrams

School's out and sixteen year-old Kennedy Simms is bored. That could be a recipe for disaster. . .

Good girls don't go to real parties, like the ones in the hood. Or rock bangin' clothes. Or stay out as long as they want. But I'm sick of my parents' rules and being the perfect little boring suburban princess. It's my life, right? I've decided to have some fun for a change, hitting the streets with my new bestie, Sasha. Best of all, my new gangsta-fine boo, Malik, knows how to treat me right, spoils me like I deserve, and is someone I can finally call my own. Sure, living the life and being with Malik is getting me into mad-crazy trouble. And if I don't tell the truth about him, I could go to prison. But a good ride-or-die girl never snitches. And as long as my friends and my man stick by me, nothing can go wrong, right?

"A drama-filled cautionary tale about getting in too deep." -- Publishers Weekly on Crazy Love

"Abrams again tantalizes us, getting into the mind-set of the young, gifted and beautiful." -- RT Book Reviews on The Girl of His Dreams

Genres: Drama, Urban

336 pages, Paperback

First published November 25, 2014

Reviews

[Janiah Huff · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book, I highly recommend it. It contains a lot of life lessons and has an overall great message or moral to it. I thought it was very relate able to a younger crowd (Highschool) and I would definitely read it again.

[Trinity · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kennedy Simms is a sixteen-year-old African-american girl who is out of school for the summer and is bored out of her mind. She lives in the suburbs but finds herself desiring the hood lifestyle. She finds herself in love with a hood-boy, Malik, and her story unfolds from there.

Amir Abrams develops a very solemn tone in order to get readers to think of themselves and what they are doing for love. Are they changing their lifestyle in order to fulfill someone else's? Or are they staying true to themselves.

I felt the book was very well-written. It was realistic so I could feel as if I were in the book. Abrams did a very good job of writing this story. I would recommend this story to anyone who has ever found themselves looking for love in the wrong places.

[Isannys · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although I know it’s a realistic book (sort of) of a problem that precedes a lot of young ladies, I also hate characters like the main character. Naive, stupid, dumb, selfish, etc. I hate girls who want to act all grown, make grown up choices but are not willing to take the consequences of those actions, you know. Like, how dumb can you get? And I can say that with full confidence because I’ve never been interested in that life and don’t see how you would be. A life of suffering is all it is. Just no

[Kell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Something to let my teen read

A reality good book.
There is a few grammatical errors in this book but it is worth reading.
A little too much slang that I found hard to keep up with but then again I'm an older person.

[Tammy Wooding]

School's out and sixteen year-old Kennedy Simms is bored. That could be a recipe for disaster...

Good girls don't go to real parties, like the ones in the hood. Or rock bangin' clothes. Or stay out as long as they want. But I'm sick of my parents' rules and being the perfect little boring suburban princess. It's my life, right? I've decided to have some fun for a change, hitting the streets with my new bestie, Sasha. Best of all, my new gangsta-fine boo, Malik, knows how to treat me right, spoils me like I deserve, and is someone I can finally call my own. Sure, living the life and being with Malik is getting me into mad-crazy trouble. And if I don't tell the truth about him, I could go to prison. But a good ride-or-die girl never snitches. And as long as my friends and my man stick by me, nothing can go wrong, right?

[she_ill_22 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Caught up is the perfect phrase for this one!

Kennedy is a Black girl from the suburbs who is bored and looking for some fun in the hood. She ends of finding exactly what she's looking for and more. Kennedy was so naïve that she came across as stupid. Poor thing learned her lesson the hard way. This is a great choice for a teenage discussion group.

[Rok!tsuperhero · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a good read! Kennedy got on my nerves, but at the same time it made her even more realistic. When girls and boys read this book, I hope they learn from her mistakes because I sure as hell did. I don't ever would want myself or my friends to be caught up in those types of situations. Glad it ended in a realistic way. :-)

[Tamela · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would recommend this read for young girls. It's a decent read and addresses issues that they fantasize about. The thuggish boyfriend, and I like the fact that Caught Up shows all aspects. The lifestyle has consequences and this was a pretty realistic view.

3.28

[Celie · Rating 4 out of 5]

loved the book so surprised by the ending. ..cant wait to see if the second one comes out

[C. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, THAT was depressing. Really well done, though: I was completely caught up in watching Kennedy ruin her life.

[Latanya]

I read this book because when my teacher picked up the book and showed me ,I read the back and it sounded very interesting to me. Yes, I did like that book . The character I liked was Kennedy Simms because, she wasn't in the mix of anything and she basically lived the same life that I used to live. An important moment that I like in the book was when Malik and Kennedy met and fell in love even though she wasn't suppose to.