What do you think?
Rate this book
Retalation #1
Retaliation: A Novel
Retaliation is an American Library Association, Top 10 Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers.
Violence runs rampant on the streets of Washington, DC, and on one seemingly quiet day, the Odom family finds its world destroyed when seventeen-year-old Tashera is brutally attacked by a group of high school girls. Retaliation exposes the corrupting existence of violence in our communities and the retaliatory measures families go through to protect themselves and their children.
Violence runs rampant on the streets of Washington, DC, and on one seemingly quiet day, the Odom family finds its world destroyed when seventeen-year-old Tashera is brutally attacked by a group of high school girls. Retaliation exposes the corrupting existence of violence in our communities and the retaliatory measures families go through to protect themselves and their children.
ebook
First published February 15, 2007
14 people are currently reading
483 people want to read
About the author
Yasmin Shiraz
17 books61 followersYasmin Shiraz is the author of The Blueprint for My Girls as well as The Blueprint for My Girls in Love. She is an empowerment speaker and program developer who has delivered programs and keynotes based on her books.
She is the author of the ALA's Top Ten Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers selection, Retaliation. She has spoken at over 100 colleges nationwide on topics such as empowerment, black history and hip hop culture.
She is an award winning film director as her film, Can She Be Saved? won 4 film awards including Best New film.
When not writing books, she produces documentaries for her company, Still Eye Rise Films.
She is the author of the ALA's Top Ten Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers selection, Retaliation. She has spoken at over 100 colleges nationwide on topics such as empowerment, black history and hip hop culture.
She is an award winning film director as her film, Can She Be Saved? won 4 film awards including Best New film.
When not writing books, she produces documentaries for her company, Still Eye Rise Films.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews
November 10, 2009
From the begining to the end the book had my attention. There was so much going on that kept me reading and scenes that left me wondering and making alot of metacognition. The book reminded me of where I used to live and the way things worked with the gangs. When the mother didn't care anything she put herself into to fight for her daughter. Being behind bars and almost loosing her job she still said if she had to she'll do it again. That shows that Tashera's mom really loves her and she'll do what she wants to, Tashera really had alot of love and support coming from home. Her brother, that is in a wheel chair retaliates for his little sister since she'd been jumped. I felt the pain for Tashera's mother, Tashera and Dueces Tre gang members when Khalil got killed right infront of his mother. I know that it was hard for the mom because her son was already paralized from the waist down and now he's just gone for good. I wish that the book had a part to because it left me with alot of question, like I wonder if they retaliated for the killing of Khalil or did they move out of the neighborhood, how would Tashera and her boyfriend do in college together. I rate this book a 5 star and recommend the book to young teens that come from the urban areas that are exposed to gang violence. It really touches bases for why retaliation is done, people don't choose how they live but its either die or do what you have to do to survive.
October 31, 2009
Retaliation by Yasmin Shiraz had my heart pumping the whole time I read it. Now I understand why it received 2009 Top Ten Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers! What would you do if someone you loved was senselessly targeted, beaten up and left for dead? This is the premise of this book and what happens continues to reverberate through each chapter. People's lives are changed (Sheila Odom and her son Khalil who was in a gang and now spends his days in a wheelchair)--- they jump to conclusions that are unwarranted and they want justice and they don't care as long as Tashera doesn't suffer anymore and is vindicated whether it be a beatdown on one of the girls who commandeered her friends to beat, kick and assult Tahsera. They run away when help comes from Ashe, an EMT who saw and heard it from a nearby building. Each chapter involves some other person who has been drawn into this nightmare....I purchased three for my library and they are all out in students hands, I think it will continue to generate buzz and also hopefully some sensible conversation about the CHOICES many of these characters make....
April 7, 2014
If you like gritty inner city drama, grab this one. The story takes place in D.C. and centers around Marion Berry High School.The main character is Tashera Odom. She is a sweet, smart, caring, and loyal to her mom Sheila and brother Khalil. Khalil is paralyzed, so he doesn't do anything but play video games and stew in his own anger. We follow Tashera, her boyfriend Ahmed and a group of girls through a very troubling fight. These three girls have motive, brought on by Ahmed doing Jessica wrong, to hurt Tashera. When she is seriously beaten the story turns to different forms of "retaliation". Never have I been so affected by this type of violence. When the motive is actually spoken of I was shocked. No spoilers but I will say bravo to Yasmin Shiraz! What a talented author. These two girls latch onto Jessica's anger and take over. DeCalia and Alex are equally responsible. I thought the worst was DeCalia. Then their family life comes into play and it made me think. They took someone else s fight, made it their own and suffered greatly for their choices. It was a very real story where one little misunderstanding is at the root of the evil.
Just the one conversation started a streak of retaliation that affected so many. Tashera's Mom, I loved her! Sheila was a single parent dealing with the death of her husband and the fact that the gangs ruined her son. The Duece Tres gang is a scary situation. The things that the rivals do to each other is hard to read about. It makes you think!
This book is rich in every aspect. I enjoyed how Ahmed and Tashera were portrayed. There was nothing I didn't like here. The authors writing, language, and thorough knowledge of the inner city kept me glued to the book. It is important to recognize good writing, this is good writing! I also liked that the author used herself as a character. It was a so smart to have Tashera question herself, her brother's lifestyle, and her Mom. When she had a question, she wrote to Yasmin who spoke at her school. During the lecture that Yasmin gave, Tashera really listened and wanted to use a little conflict resolution in her own life. I applaud the author for writing an excellent book. I am moving on now to Accused, book 2 I am so excited. I like Ahmed and Tashera going away to college together.
May 20, 2009
Set in D.C. Tashera is a good girl; she keeps her head down, does fine in school, and is making some good money doing braids on the side. She makes enough to help out her mother and brother. However when she starts dating the star basketball player she gets jumped and seriously injured (she may not be able to reproduce) by his ex-girlfriend and 2 of her friends. Her mother takes things into her own hands landing herself in jail for assault of one of the other girl’s mothers. This is bad enough but her wheelchair bound gang leader brother takes it to w hole new level convinced this is all gang related. Of course, violence begets violence and before the story is done more people end up in jail, hurt and killed then to start with. In the final moments just as some people are getting a 2nd chance others are sealing their own fates and taking away life.
This is a good urban fiction with lots of different perspectives on the same incident. I felt like I heard many different voices, all speaking about the complexities of violence, retaliation, gangs, neighborhood alliances etc. It is a sad story and no one is portrayed well, they all have their own motivation, stupidities, and short sided ways of looking at things. Almost every character is at some point both a victim, and if not a perpetrator at least wields some negative power.
Yasmin Shiraz writes the Blueprint series which are empowerment books for teens of color living in violent communities and sometimes diffacult situations. This fiction reflects the reality of life for urban teens stuck in situations well beyond their control. She tries to give teens some insight into the consequences of bad decisions while also portraying the fact that situations can easily spin out of anyone’s control and get ridiculously dangerous and destructive before anyone even realizes what is happening.
This is a good urban fiction with lots of different perspectives on the same incident. I felt like I heard many different voices, all speaking about the complexities of violence, retaliation, gangs, neighborhood alliances etc. It is a sad story and no one is portrayed well, they all have their own motivation, stupidities, and short sided ways of looking at things. Almost every character is at some point both a victim, and if not a perpetrator at least wields some negative power.
Yasmin Shiraz writes the Blueprint series which are empowerment books for teens of color living in violent communities and sometimes diffacult situations. This fiction reflects the reality of life for urban teens stuck in situations well beyond their control. She tries to give teens some insight into the consequences of bad decisions while also portraying the fact that situations can easily spin out of anyone’s control and get ridiculously dangerous and destructive before anyone even realizes what is happening.
March 12, 2009
This novel was my first foray into "urban fiction" and a good start. It's a powerful and gripping story of what happens when people allow events to spiral into violence through misunderstanding and revenge.
Tashera was a good kid who kept her head down in the neighborhood, staying out of trouble. When she starts dating Ahmed, a jealous ex-girlfriend and her friends jump Tashera and send her to the hospital. Tashera's brother, who used to be big in a gang until a bullet put him in a wheelchair, is out to get even with whoever messed with his sister. Tashera's mother has a fiery temper and wants to make life hell for the girls and their families. Both of them cause a chain of violent events that lead to tragedy. Even the attackers had not thought through the consequences of their actions and each girl has to suffer through miserable punishments, both tangible and psychological.
Though not particularly well-written, the events of the story are fast-paced and the characters sympathetic. This novel realistically portrays the consequences of hot-headed, violent retaliation.
Tashera was a good kid who kept her head down in the neighborhood, staying out of trouble. When she starts dating Ahmed, a jealous ex-girlfriend and her friends jump Tashera and send her to the hospital. Tashera's brother, who used to be big in a gang until a bullet put him in a wheelchair, is out to get even with whoever messed with his sister. Tashera's mother has a fiery temper and wants to make life hell for the girls and their families. Both of them cause a chain of violent events that lead to tragedy. Even the attackers had not thought through the consequences of their actions and each girl has to suffer through miserable punishments, both tangible and psychological.
Though not particularly well-written, the events of the story are fast-paced and the characters sympathetic. This novel realistically portrays the consequences of hot-headed, violent retaliation.
April 9, 2013
This book is about a high school girl named Tashera Odom. She lives in a part of Washington, D.C where there is a lot of gang violence. her older brother Khalil Odom used to be in a gang called the Duece Tres Crew but he got in the back and is wheelchair bound because he is paralyzed. When Tashera gets jumped by three girls and is in the hospital with e wounds her brother becomes active in the gang again and enlists the girls of the gang to find the three girls that jumped Tashera and beat them until they confess. While in the hospital Tashera knows about everything that is going on and writes to her favorite author Yasmin Shiraz to get some advice on how to deal with all her Dram and pain.
May 7, 2009
Drama for you Mama is true in Retaliation. This book demonstrates the snowball effect that can happen when trouble is started. One boy's decision to disrespect his sort of girlfriends leads to the attack on his current girlfriend. This in turn leads to the retaliation her brother and mother take to punish those involved. This story shows how each action has a reaction. It doesn't matter how good, or bad, the intentions are the choices you make effect more people than just you. People need to remember to treat others how they would like to be treated. When wronged, although it is hard, sometimes the best thing to do is to forgive, forget, and move on.
April 9, 2010
I liked this book because, the story kept up with the title "Retalialion". In this book, a girl named Tashera was jumped by 3 girls because of the boy she goes out with. With Tashera in the hospital with bodily injuries that might ruin her life, her mother, Sheila, goes out to try and find the girls who attacked her daughter without Tashera knowing. Also Tashera's brother, Khalil, who was shot and paralyzed, in a wheel chair, also goes out to try and find the girls who jumped his little sister, without Sheila or tashera knowing. I rate this book a 5, because this book seem so real, and I can relate to some parts of this book.
February 3, 2010
The main charcter is Tashera Odom. A girl that was attacked by 3 other girls causing her whole life to change. I liked this book because it kept me reading non-stop. I never wanted to put this book down once I started reading it.I want to know why khalil had to die at the end of the story? I thought he was going to watch his sister graduate and leave them forever. I rate this book as a 5 star book because I really enjoyed reading it and i would recommend the story to any teens. I liked that way the author ended the story with Tashera being happy and it leaves you wondering whats going to happen in her future.
June 25, 2015
Retaliation was a well told story as one person's actions caused a plethora of reactions. From the detailed nature of the incident until the resolution, Yasmin Shiraz provided an examination of a problem that is frequently seen.. This book is one that should be read by young & old as it deals with some of the consequences when bad decisions are made. I enjoyed reading this story as I found myself completing it in just a few hours due to the stimulating storyline, content & characters. I've had this book for a while & my only regret is I didn't read it sooner.
October 16, 2009
Perfect for the kids at my school, this is a class urban novel. There's gangs, violence, sex, and retaliation. Not only are the kids involved, but their parents as well. There are some unique twists and turns, as well as some lessons learned, but in the end, the kids will only see it for the high drama and "realism" on the DC streets.
June 23, 2009
I learned that you fight over a boy any body else because there alot of consequences in the end.You shouln't heart people over the things that want .I love this book because i like the drama and sort of like a thriller because couldn't wait to keep reading and what was going to happen next.
Want to read
June 29, 2009This was a top 10 Quick Pick for reluctant readers in January 2009 (2008 titles). Since it's set in DC, I ordered tons of paperbacks for DC branches. I guess I should read it now. Would love to hear any opinions from anyone else (teen or adult) who's read it.
December 3, 2010
I think this book deserves 5 stars. I feel as if this book should be a requirment in schools. The main character in this book had a rought time. she was beatin' in a vacant lot. for NO REASON. I really dont want to give anything away because this is such a great book. She stayed strong.
October 12, 2011
i thought that this book was a very good book like its just my type of book. retaliation was about a group of girls jumped this girl cause of a boy made the girl go to the hopital and the mother got involed also the brother it was all about jealousy.
Read
February 1, 2009Great teen book. Hard to put down.
December 28, 2009
This is a great book, especially if you teach middle school readers. I go it from a student and thought I would not like it- turnsout I was wrong. Quick read. Good ending.
February 23, 2010
Wonderfully written book that speaks to the crisis in Black Urban America.
March 23, 2010
THIS BOOK IZ SAD HOW THEIR LIFE IS
Read
December 11, 2010this book is just ugh the best i swear it is
September 6, 2011
Great read for teens about choices, about how the choices that they make affect everyone around them, and how to deal with the choices others make.
October 7, 2011
So far each characters have a problem and deep secrets.
November 1, 2012
It was a really good book because I don't like reading and it got my attetion
December 17, 2012
it was a good book to read it was not boring.It was good through out the whole book.
June 21, 2014
A Study in Rape Culture
(Full disclosure: I received a free copy of this book for review through Goodreads' First Reads program. Trigger warning for extensive discussions of physical violence including rape. Also, this review contains minor spoilers.)
Seventeen-year-old Tashera Odom tries to keep to herself and out of trouble. She gets good grades, doesn't gossip or pick fights, eschews the clique culture, and braids hair on the side to save enough money for college. But as a student at Marion Barry High School in Washington, DC, escaping the violence that plagues her community is challenging at best. Tashera's neighborhood is home two two rival gangs: the Deuce Très (23rd Street) and Deuce Five (25th Street) crews. Violence is an "every day, every hour" occurrence, even for those who try to stay out of the fray.
One April afternoon, Tashera is jumped and viciously beaten by three girls while on her way home from school. Luckily, a bystander - a paramedic by the name of Ashe Thurgood - witnesses the attack and intervenes on Tash's behalf before the girls can inflict any permanent physical damage. Though she doesn't know her attackers, it's rather quickly established that the assault was masterminded by fellow classmates Jessica Barnes - the ex-girlfriend ("previous conquest" might be more apt) of Tash's boyfriend Ahmed Warner - and carried out by Jessica and her two best friends, DeCalia Thomas and Alexandra Kent.
Retaliation examines how this single act of violence affects Tashera, as well as those around her - and, in turn, the community as a whole. The assault has a ripple effect, causing waves of escalating violence as those closest to Shera retaliate against her attackers: Her mother, Sheila Odom, launches her own investigation; this quickly takes her to Calia's door, where she assaults Calia's mom Anita. Both women are arrested, resulting in a war between the Thomases and Odoms. Tashera's brother Khalil - a former Deuce Très member who was shot in the spine and paralyzed during a robbery some four years ago - falls back on his gang ties to seek his own form of revenge (an eye for an eye). Ahmed tries to trick Jessica into admitting her part in the assault on tape - but instead witnesses her abduction. Before the story ends, one girl will end up in jail; another, in the hospital; and the last, dead by her own hand.
Each of these acts of retaliation share one common element: none of Tashera's loved ones stop to consider what she wants. Indeed, when she begs her mother and brother to leave the situation be, both dismiss her out of hand. For Sheila, being a mother means protecting your children at all costs. To Khalil, this is a gang matter - a breach of rules and a matter of disrespect, since Tashera is supposed to be off-limits - even though the attack had nothing to do with gang activities (as the authorities initially fear).
Retaliation is a gripping, powerful look at the impact of violence on individuals and communities. While few of the characters (especially the adults) are particularly likable, Shiraz does a wonderful job of challenging her readers to see the situation through their eyes. For instance, while Sheila most certainly jumps the gun - she doesn't even give the police a day to conduct their investigation before taking matters into her own hands - her distrust in law enforcement stems from a lifetime of dealing with police mistreatment and malfeasance. (Seriously, just Google "police brutality." I'll wait.) Ultimately, it is only Ashe's personal connections in the police department, coupled with fear of further gang violence, that spurs the swift investigation and trial.
The author's decision to write herself into the story - in a critical way - is both unexpected and refreshing. Shiraz, who conducts youth workshops and lectures across the US, is the author of five books, including an empowerment series called "The Blueprint for My Girls." While not a true story, Retaliation is inspired by Shiraz's work; and as she struggles to come to terms with the violence done to her, Tashera finds herself corresponding with Shiraz, who lectured at Marion Barry earlier that year. She takes issue with Shiraz's advice, which seems out of touch: "My good morals didn't get me anything but jumped." Just what are kids to do when violence surrounds them? How can we expect them to escape when we've cut off most of their avenues?
So why the 3 1/2 star rating? (Rounded down to 3 on Amazon, natch.) I'm incredibly disappointed with Shiraz's handling of the rape culture which permeates Retaliation. Whereas Tashera's assault is identified as the impetus for the retaliatory acts of violence found here, I'd argue that the roots run much deeper. To most of the characters, Jessica is a bitter ex-girlfriend who's both jealous of Tashera and angry about how Ahmed treated her. While this treatment - passing her around to his friends on the basketball team and then dumping her for being a "follower" and sleeping with "too many" guys - is morally repugnant, the precipitating event is much, much worse: before she willingly (?) had sex with his friends, Ahmed and his best friend Mike raped Jessica.
This is rape, full stop.
And yet the word "rape" doesn't appear once in Retaliation.
Indeed, if you read the above passage carefully, it's the consensual (yet questionably so) behavior that's called into question - the "letting his boys tap her" - rather than the rape. Passing her around might indeed cross the line of decency - but tricking her into "having sex" with Mike is downright criminal.
THIS is the act of violence that triggers Tashera's attack, and everything that comes after it. And yet it's never named for what it is, or even treated with the gravity it demands.
After her breakup with Mike - indeed, probably sooner, as in following the rape - Jessica changes: She begins exhibiting symptoms of PTSD. She starts dressing all in black. Her grades slip. She has nightmares and flashbacks. And, of course, she starts to think about getting revenge on Ahmed.
Clearly she's suffering, yet no one steps up to help her: not her teachers, not her parents, not the principal. In fact, she's repeatedly dismissed as "mental" - nevermind that it's Ahmed and Mike's actions that are the source of her distress.
It's unfortunate that Jessica decides to take revenge on Ahmed by hurting Tashera; Tashera is an innocent bystander; she had nothing to do with Jessica's rape. And yet it's important to note that it's her own mother's advice (however innocently intended) that inspires the attack: to really make a boy suffer, you go after his heart.
To be sure, Retaliation is filled with questionable (yet painfully realistic) decisions and acts of violence. However, Jessica's rape is one of the few that Shiraz allows to stand on its own, unquestioned. Sheila, Khalil, even Tashera: the actions of each of these characters is called out in the text, rather than leaving the readers to do so of their own devices. For example, Sheila's cousin -slash- lawyer Richard King challenges her to assume some responsibility for the events which befall her after Tashera's assault: the confrontation with Anita, both women's arrest, the ongoing feud, and Sheila's suspension from her administrative job. Khalil's gang activities are a constant source of strife between Tashera and her brother. And Shiraz herself entreats Tashera not to change who she is (by carrying a switchblade to school), thus letting her enemies win.
Even Ahmed's co-rapist Mike chides him for failing to report Jessica's kidnapping to the police!
But the rape? It's just bundled up with Ahmed's other shitty behavior - passing Jessica around, only to unceremoniously dump her - under the gentler euphemism "how I treated her." As in, "Jessica attacked Tashera because she's mad at how I treated her."
No, she's traumatized because you and your friend raped her, and now she not only has to see you at school every day, but she has to watch silently as everyone treats you like a God: cheering your name on the basketball court, throwing scholarship money at you, and dating you even though you're a rapist.
Personally, I feel bad for Jessica; she's a victim right alongside Tashera. By story's end, I found myself wishing that she and her friends had jumped Ahmed and Mike instead. Because the police? Even less likely to care about a "gray" rape that a "promising" athlete "allegedly" committed (against a woman of color, no less) more than six months ago than they are a random schoolyard beatdown. There's no justice there.
So. Not only is the rape glossed over, but Ahmed emerges from the story unscathed, even as his actions wreak havoc on everyone around him. He escapes prosecution (Jessica never reports the rape; in fact, she might even not think of it as "rape" - though it's worth noting that Ahmed and Mike must have at least suspected, since they recognized that Jessica's consent was not guaranteed); retains his relationship with Tashera (who, to be fair, might not even know about the rape); and not only keeps his basketball scholarships, but cashes in early.
Declarations of growth and lesson-learning abound, yet Ahmed never acknowledges that his "treatment" of Jessica crossed the line from morally reprehensible to criminal. In fact, after he's mistakenly arrested for her abduction, Ahmed drops this gem: "I was in jail for kidnapping somebody I'd never laid a finger on."
But didn't you, Ahmed? DIDN'T YOU?
Continuing this trend, the author includes some tips for conflict resolution at the end of the book...but nothing on rape prevention. Even though it was a rape that precipitated all the subsequent violence in the book.
In many ways, Retaliation is a look at the impossibilities of navigating neighborhoods plagued by violence unscathed. But rape culture also permeates the story - and in not identifying it, interrogating it, engaging in it - Shiraz does her readers a disservice. I'm afraid that many readers - especially teens - will read the scene I quoted above and not see a rape, but just some boorish behavior of the "boys will be boys" variety.
Ahmed might be leaving the gang violence that permeated DC behind him - but he'll still be a rapist, privileged and protected through his athletic prowess, in whichever college town he finds himself. Retaliation is ripe for a critical examination of athletic culture and how it not only excuses, but encourages misogyny and perpetuates rape culture.
http://www.easyvegan.info/2014/06/27/...
(Full disclosure: I received a free copy of this book for review through Goodreads' First Reads program. Trigger warning for extensive discussions of physical violence including rape. Also, this review contains minor spoilers.)
Seventeen-year-old Tashera Odom tries to keep to herself and out of trouble. She gets good grades, doesn't gossip or pick fights, eschews the clique culture, and braids hair on the side to save enough money for college. But as a student at Marion Barry High School in Washington, DC, escaping the violence that plagues her community is challenging at best. Tashera's neighborhood is home two two rival gangs: the Deuce Très (23rd Street) and Deuce Five (25th Street) crews. Violence is an "every day, every hour" occurrence, even for those who try to stay out of the fray.
One April afternoon, Tashera is jumped and viciously beaten by three girls while on her way home from school. Luckily, a bystander - a paramedic by the name of Ashe Thurgood - witnesses the attack and intervenes on Tash's behalf before the girls can inflict any permanent physical damage. Though she doesn't know her attackers, it's rather quickly established that the assault was masterminded by fellow classmates Jessica Barnes - the ex-girlfriend ("previous conquest" might be more apt) of Tash's boyfriend Ahmed Warner - and carried out by Jessica and her two best friends, DeCalia Thomas and Alexandra Kent.
Retaliation examines how this single act of violence affects Tashera, as well as those around her - and, in turn, the community as a whole. The assault has a ripple effect, causing waves of escalating violence as those closest to Shera retaliate against her attackers: Her mother, Sheila Odom, launches her own investigation; this quickly takes her to Calia's door, where she assaults Calia's mom Anita. Both women are arrested, resulting in a war between the Thomases and Odoms. Tashera's brother Khalil - a former Deuce Très member who was shot in the spine and paralyzed during a robbery some four years ago - falls back on his gang ties to seek his own form of revenge (an eye for an eye). Ahmed tries to trick Jessica into admitting her part in the assault on tape - but instead witnesses her abduction. Before the story ends, one girl will end up in jail; another, in the hospital; and the last, dead by her own hand.
Each of these acts of retaliation share one common element: none of Tashera's loved ones stop to consider what she wants. Indeed, when she begs her mother and brother to leave the situation be, both dismiss her out of hand. For Sheila, being a mother means protecting your children at all costs. To Khalil, this is a gang matter - a breach of rules and a matter of disrespect, since Tashera is supposed to be off-limits - even though the attack had nothing to do with gang activities (as the authorities initially fear).
Retaliation is a gripping, powerful look at the impact of violence on individuals and communities. While few of the characters (especially the adults) are particularly likable, Shiraz does a wonderful job of challenging her readers to see the situation through their eyes. For instance, while Sheila most certainly jumps the gun - she doesn't even give the police a day to conduct their investigation before taking matters into her own hands - her distrust in law enforcement stems from a lifetime of dealing with police mistreatment and malfeasance. (Seriously, just Google "police brutality." I'll wait.) Ultimately, it is only Ashe's personal connections in the police department, coupled with fear of further gang violence, that spurs the swift investigation and trial.
The author's decision to write herself into the story - in a critical way - is both unexpected and refreshing. Shiraz, who conducts youth workshops and lectures across the US, is the author of five books, including an empowerment series called "The Blueprint for My Girls." While not a true story, Retaliation is inspired by Shiraz's work; and as she struggles to come to terms with the violence done to her, Tashera finds herself corresponding with Shiraz, who lectured at Marion Barry earlier that year. She takes issue with Shiraz's advice, which seems out of touch: "My good morals didn't get me anything but jumped." Just what are kids to do when violence surrounds them? How can we expect them to escape when we've cut off most of their avenues?
So why the 3 1/2 star rating? (Rounded down to 3 on Amazon, natch.) I'm incredibly disappointed with Shiraz's handling of the rape culture which permeates Retaliation. Whereas Tashera's assault is identified as the impetus for the retaliatory acts of violence found here, I'd argue that the roots run much deeper. To most of the characters, Jessica is a bitter ex-girlfriend who's both jealous of Tashera and angry about how Ahmed treated her. While this treatment - passing her around to his friends on the basketball team and then dumping her for being a "follower" and sleeping with "too many" guys - is morally repugnant, the precipitating event is much, much worse: before she willingly (?) had sex with his friends, Ahmed and his best friend Mike raped Jessica.
Ahmed recalled his relationship with Jessica last summer. It was bad enough he had treated Jessica like a piece of meat, but letting his boys tap her, too, went way over the line of decency.
He had told Mike that he'd handle things with Jessica, and he wasted no time in doing so. Later that day, after talking to Mike, Ahmed told Jessica he was coming to visit her. He told her that he wanted to wrap a scarf around her eyes so she couldn't see what he was doing. Once he wrapped her eyes, he went downstairs and led Mike into her bedroom. Mike started to have sex with her though Jessica thought it was Ahmed, that is, until she took off the scarf.
"Ahmed, what is going on?" Jessica yelled.
Ahmed came into the bedroom. "I didn't think you'd really have sex with him, so I just helped it along. It's like a favor for me. So thanks."
This is rape, full stop.
And yet the word "rape" doesn't appear once in Retaliation.
Indeed, if you read the above passage carefully, it's the consensual (yet questionably so) behavior that's called into question - the "letting his boys tap her" - rather than the rape. Passing her around might indeed cross the line of decency - but tricking her into "having sex" with Mike is downright criminal.
THIS is the act of violence that triggers Tashera's attack, and everything that comes after it. And yet it's never named for what it is, or even treated with the gravity it demands.
After her breakup with Mike - indeed, probably sooner, as in following the rape - Jessica changes: She begins exhibiting symptoms of PTSD. She starts dressing all in black. Her grades slip. She has nightmares and flashbacks. And, of course, she starts to think about getting revenge on Ahmed.
Clearly she's suffering, yet no one steps up to help her: not her teachers, not her parents, not the principal. In fact, she's repeatedly dismissed as "mental" - nevermind that it's Ahmed and Mike's actions that are the source of her distress.
It's unfortunate that Jessica decides to take revenge on Ahmed by hurting Tashera; Tashera is an innocent bystander; she had nothing to do with Jessica's rape. And yet it's important to note that it's her own mother's advice (however innocently intended) that inspires the attack: to really make a boy suffer, you go after his heart.
To be sure, Retaliation is filled with questionable (yet painfully realistic) decisions and acts of violence. However, Jessica's rape is one of the few that Shiraz allows to stand on its own, unquestioned. Sheila, Khalil, even Tashera: the actions of each of these characters is called out in the text, rather than leaving the readers to do so of their own devices. For example, Sheila's cousin -slash- lawyer Richard King challenges her to assume some responsibility for the events which befall her after Tashera's assault: the confrontation with Anita, both women's arrest, the ongoing feud, and Sheila's suspension from her administrative job. Khalil's gang activities are a constant source of strife between Tashera and her brother. And Shiraz herself entreats Tashera not to change who she is (by carrying a switchblade to school), thus letting her enemies win.
Even Ahmed's co-rapist Mike chides him for failing to report Jessica's kidnapping to the police!
But the rape? It's just bundled up with Ahmed's other shitty behavior - passing Jessica around, only to unceremoniously dump her - under the gentler euphemism "how I treated her." As in, "Jessica attacked Tashera because she's mad at how I treated her."
No, she's traumatized because you and your friend raped her, and now she not only has to see you at school every day, but she has to watch silently as everyone treats you like a God: cheering your name on the basketball court, throwing scholarship money at you, and dating you even though you're a rapist.
Personally, I feel bad for Jessica; she's a victim right alongside Tashera. By story's end, I found myself wishing that she and her friends had jumped Ahmed and Mike instead. Because the police? Even less likely to care about a "gray" rape that a "promising" athlete "allegedly" committed (against a woman of color, no less) more than six months ago than they are a random schoolyard beatdown. There's no justice there.
So. Not only is the rape glossed over, but Ahmed emerges from the story unscathed, even as his actions wreak havoc on everyone around him. He escapes prosecution (Jessica never reports the rape; in fact, she might even not think of it as "rape" - though it's worth noting that Ahmed and Mike must have at least suspected, since they recognized that Jessica's consent was not guaranteed); retains his relationship with Tashera (who, to be fair, might not even know about the rape); and not only keeps his basketball scholarships, but cashes in early.
Declarations of growth and lesson-learning abound, yet Ahmed never acknowledges that his "treatment" of Jessica crossed the line from morally reprehensible to criminal. In fact, after he's mistakenly arrested for her abduction, Ahmed drops this gem: "I was in jail for kidnapping somebody I'd never laid a finger on."
But didn't you, Ahmed? DIDN'T YOU?
Continuing this trend, the author includes some tips for conflict resolution at the end of the book...but nothing on rape prevention. Even though it was a rape that precipitated all the subsequent violence in the book.
In many ways, Retaliation is a look at the impossibilities of navigating neighborhoods plagued by violence unscathed. But rape culture also permeates the story - and in not identifying it, interrogating it, engaging in it - Shiraz does her readers a disservice. I'm afraid that many readers - especially teens - will read the scene I quoted above and not see a rape, but just some boorish behavior of the "boys will be boys" variety.
Ahmed might be leaving the gang violence that permeated DC behind him - but he'll still be a rapist, privileged and protected through his athletic prowess, in whichever college town he finds himself. Retaliation is ripe for a critical examination of athletic culture and how it not only excuses, but encourages misogyny and perpetuates rape culture.
http://www.easyvegan.info/2014/06/27/...
October 18, 2021
This book was outstanding it was well created and a definite read again type of book I recommend this for teens 13+
January 26, 2015
Oliver Wendell Holmes once said something to the effect of, "A person's mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions." My mind has been so stretched by reading this book.
To get the legalities out of the way, I was given a free copy of Retaliation in exchange for my honest review, which follows.
This is not a book I would have picked up on my own to read, the title did not sound appealing, but it fit the story perfectly; I live about as far from DC as I can get while still being in the Lower Forty-Eight; I live in a relatively peaceful neighborhood totally opposite of Tashera Odom and her neighbors. In short, I had nothing in common with the protagonist; however, by the end of the book, I found I had much in common with her.
Tashera is a good girl, she has seen gang violence up close and personal, and wants nothing to do with it. Her older brother is in a wheel chair because of gang violence. So when she is jumped on the way home from school by three girls she doesn't know for a reason she doesn't understand, and is put in the hospital with serious injuries, it comes as a total shock.
This beating is the center part of the book, and how all the people in the book look and react at it. Her mother seeks retaliation immediately, rather than let the cops handle it. Her brother puts his old gang on it, and finds out who the girls are. Her boyfriend realizes his part in the beat down due to his past actions (which, by the way, describe today's rape culture very well, and the way it is accepted by way too many people. I think Ms. Shiraz has another book to write with Ahmed as the central character.) The three girls recognize their part and guilt.
There are many characters in here, each deals with the beating and the aftermath in their own, and believable, way. This is a story of mothers who love their children, and mothers who don't; of children who commit atrocities, and are faced with the consequences. It is a story of family—family of blood, family of proximity, family of neighborhood, family of violence.
There are times when the story jumps from one place to another, but the visual clues that a jump has arrived "*****" makes it easy for the reader to make the transition. The ending of the story is satisfactory, everyone gets their just desserts and recognizes their part in the drama. The ending of the book is more than satisfactory, as Ms. Shiraz has a section of Making Peace: Tips on Conflict Management with not only tips on conflict resolution, but information of where to find help if you're caught in a situation where you need it. There is also a Discussion and Bookclub Questions and finally a section on Questions with the Author.
An excellent book on a tough topic, and I highly recommend it for anyone who is in high school, for any parent who has a child in, or entering, high school, whether you live in an area of gang violence or not, and for all you teachers out there. This book would make a great reading and discussion assignment. Copies should be in every High School Library in the country.
Hollywood! Pay attention. This book will make a great movie!
To get the legalities out of the way, I was given a free copy of Retaliation in exchange for my honest review, which follows.
This is not a book I would have picked up on my own to read, the title did not sound appealing, but it fit the story perfectly; I live about as far from DC as I can get while still being in the Lower Forty-Eight; I live in a relatively peaceful neighborhood totally opposite of Tashera Odom and her neighbors. In short, I had nothing in common with the protagonist; however, by the end of the book, I found I had much in common with her.
Tashera is a good girl, she has seen gang violence up close and personal, and wants nothing to do with it. Her older brother is in a wheel chair because of gang violence. So when she is jumped on the way home from school by three girls she doesn't know for a reason she doesn't understand, and is put in the hospital with serious injuries, it comes as a total shock.
This beating is the center part of the book, and how all the people in the book look and react at it. Her mother seeks retaliation immediately, rather than let the cops handle it. Her brother puts his old gang on it, and finds out who the girls are. Her boyfriend realizes his part in the beat down due to his past actions (which, by the way, describe today's rape culture very well, and the way it is accepted by way too many people. I think Ms. Shiraz has another book to write with Ahmed as the central character.) The three girls recognize their part and guilt.
There are many characters in here, each deals with the beating and the aftermath in their own, and believable, way. This is a story of mothers who love their children, and mothers who don't; of children who commit atrocities, and are faced with the consequences. It is a story of family—family of blood, family of proximity, family of neighborhood, family of violence.
There are times when the story jumps from one place to another, but the visual clues that a jump has arrived "*****" makes it easy for the reader to make the transition. The ending of the story is satisfactory, everyone gets their just desserts and recognizes their part in the drama. The ending of the book is more than satisfactory, as Ms. Shiraz has a section of Making Peace: Tips on Conflict Management with not only tips on conflict resolution, but information of where to find help if you're caught in a situation where you need it. There is also a Discussion and Bookclub Questions and finally a section on Questions with the Author.
An excellent book on a tough topic, and I highly recommend it for anyone who is in high school, for any parent who has a child in, or entering, high school, whether you live in an area of gang violence or not, and for all you teachers out there. This book would make a great reading and discussion assignment. Copies should be in every High School Library in the country.
Hollywood! Pay attention. This book will make a great movie!
February 14, 2016
Original review posted at www.fictitiousdelicious.com on 04/21/15:
You may already know about the #WeNeedDiverseBooks movement on Twitter. If you don't, you need to go look at that hashtag RIGHT NOW and see how much you've been missing out on. It will change your perspective. It did mine. I realized that I DO read about people who look and live like me. But there's a whole lot of people who don't even have a chance to read about people who look and live like them and that's just not right. I've made it a personal goal to read a more diverse range of books to gain a better understanding of the diversities that are underrepresented in literature. So far it's been an eye opening experience.
Yasmin reached out to me earlier this year and asked if I'd be interested in reading and reviewing RETALIATION. Tashera's story is the EXACT kind of story that I needed to bring diversity into my reading, so I jumped at the chance. Tashera is a young African American girl that lives a life surrounded by violence in Washington D.C. She is brutally attacked by three girls as the story opens up and literally fights for her life during her recovery. Her attack is the precipice for the real story here: the need to retaliate for wrongs committed against those you love.
Unless you live in a world of violence, you cannot comprehend what it is like to live through such events. RETALIATION gives us a look at how Tashera's attack affects not just her, but her family, her friends, her school administration, the police and the family of her attackers, and her attackers themselves. The decisions that each of these people make are at times confusing, infuriating, heartbreaking and always, ALWAYS authentic. No one made a more lasting impression on me than Tashera's mother, Sheila. Weeks after finishing this story, I still find myself thinking about her.
Sheila made me FEEL this story in a way that guarantees that this story will stick with me for a long, long time. As a mother, I connected with her and her anger. What I had a hard time understanding, though, was her way of dealing with it. And here's where the magic of reading diverse books in: I came to appreciate where she was coming from. I don't live the life Sheila lives so how could I possibly know how I would react in her situation? I don't and because of that, Shiraz has given me a great gift. I can connect with a character that is not like me.
Whether it's RETALIATION or another book, please, please, PLEASE consider picking up a book that is about characters that are different from you. Your life will be better because of it, I promise.
You may already know about the #WeNeedDiverseBooks movement on Twitter. If you don't, you need to go look at that hashtag RIGHT NOW and see how much you've been missing out on. It will change your perspective. It did mine. I realized that I DO read about people who look and live like me. But there's a whole lot of people who don't even have a chance to read about people who look and live like them and that's just not right. I've made it a personal goal to read a more diverse range of books to gain a better understanding of the diversities that are underrepresented in literature. So far it's been an eye opening experience.
Yasmin reached out to me earlier this year and asked if I'd be interested in reading and reviewing RETALIATION. Tashera's story is the EXACT kind of story that I needed to bring diversity into my reading, so I jumped at the chance. Tashera is a young African American girl that lives a life surrounded by violence in Washington D.C. She is brutally attacked by three girls as the story opens up and literally fights for her life during her recovery. Her attack is the precipice for the real story here: the need to retaliate for wrongs committed against those you love.
Unless you live in a world of violence, you cannot comprehend what it is like to live through such events. RETALIATION gives us a look at how Tashera's attack affects not just her, but her family, her friends, her school administration, the police and the family of her attackers, and her attackers themselves. The decisions that each of these people make are at times confusing, infuriating, heartbreaking and always, ALWAYS authentic. No one made a more lasting impression on me than Tashera's mother, Sheila. Weeks after finishing this story, I still find myself thinking about her.
Sheila made me FEEL this story in a way that guarantees that this story will stick with me for a long, long time. As a mother, I connected with her and her anger. What I had a hard time understanding, though, was her way of dealing with it. And here's where the magic of reading diverse books in: I came to appreciate where she was coming from. I don't live the life Sheila lives so how could I possibly know how I would react in her situation? I don't and because of that, Shiraz has given me a great gift. I can connect with a character that is not like me.
Whether it's RETALIATION or another book, please, please, PLEASE consider picking up a book that is about characters that are different from you. Your life will be better because of it, I promise.
August 10, 2016
Title: Retaliation
Author: Yasmin Shiraz
Publisher: Rolling Hills Press at Smashwords
Series: Retaliation # 1
Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
Rating: Five
Review:
"Retaliation" by Yasmin Shiraz
My Thoughts....
Wow, this was some story where 'Retaliation' is front and center in this urban YA read. Will the Odom family ever be the same after Tashera was 'brutally attacked by a group of HS girls.' It seems like their had already been problems in this family from her brother Kahlil who had been 'paralyzed
due to running with gangs.' What will happen when Tashera's mom and brother tries to take care of the situation that had happened? My, my how this dramatic story will take many turns through retaliation.
There will be so many twist and turns that one will find it hard to put down definitely keeping your attention all the way to the end of the story. I found this wasn't a happy story ... quite a sad one but in the end will Tashera find any happiness through all of this? Well, you will have to pick up this novel and see for yourself how well this storyline is brought out to the readers.
I liked how Tashera reach out to Yasmin [the author of this novel] who had spoke at one time at her school. It was indeed wonderful to see how that Tashera wanted out of her present situation and had someone to tell her trouble to that truly understood what she was going through.
"Retaliation" really brings out what can happen from one 'single act of violence' that did affect so many individuals in this community. Would I recommend? YES!
Thank you to the author for the gift of the read for my honest opinion of the read.
May 31, 2014
I was excited/nervous when I won this book in a giveaway. I normally prefer fantasy, but I decided to try this. I read it in less than a day because I was so captivated.
This book is about Shera, a 17 year old who has done absolutely nothing wrong. Then she gets attacked my three girls who only stop when someone sees them. They are proud and brag about it to the other kids at school. When her loved ones retaliate, the girls find themselves in over their heads with no way out.
When I first started reading this, I had to put it down. It was so intense that I couldn't keep reading it. Around where I live, there aren't any gangs and the only gunshots are from hunters. Reading about all of this violence was an eye opener and it makes me admire large cities less. I could imagine everything that happened to Shera and I couldn't help but feel a horrified sort of fascination.
To me, it showed that a small feeling of hurt and betrayal that festers can lead to a situation blown way out of proportion. I couldn't tell if it was a true story or not because it was completely based off of real human reactions. The violence in this book reminded me of why I read fantasy novels: the violence in them is all fake and I can't connect it to my everyday life.
This book is about Shera, a 17 year old who has done absolutely nothing wrong. Then she gets attacked my three girls who only stop when someone sees them. They are proud and brag about it to the other kids at school. When her loved ones retaliate, the girls find themselves in over their heads with no way out.
When I first started reading this, I had to put it down. It was so intense that I couldn't keep reading it. Around where I live, there aren't any gangs and the only gunshots are from hunters. Reading about all of this violence was an eye opener and it makes me admire large cities less. I could imagine everything that happened to Shera and I couldn't help but feel a horrified sort of fascination.
To me, it showed that a small feeling of hurt and betrayal that festers can lead to a situation blown way out of proportion. I couldn't tell if it was a true story or not because it was completely based off of real human reactions. The violence in this book reminded me of why I read fantasy novels: the violence in them is all fake and I can't connect it to my everyday life.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews